Reunion
by Fyrloche
Summary: Inuyasha's human family finds out he is alive. They send for him. His live gets turned upside down with revelations of a mate, a child, and his brother's dead mate who has been reincarnated.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter one  
  
A/N: I don't own Inuyasha. Or Kagome. Or Sango. Or any of the gang. This author's note will be a little long. I want to thank everyone who gave me reviews on my previous stories. I am not a review hog and I don't hold stories hostage for reviews. I write these stories for entertainment and to develop my writing style. (I plan on writing a novel soon. Not Inuyasha.) So reviews are not necessary, but they do stroke my ego so keep them up. I accept constructive critism well, so don't be afraid to tell me what you think. I won't get offended. And if you don't want to leave a review for public consumption, e-mail me at FyrlocheJuno.com. Now, let's begin.  
  
Shippou sat at the edge of the well and sighed. Now he began to understand how Inuyasha felt when Kagome went through the well. Since Kagome and Inuyasha had decided to become mates, he never let her go through the well alone. Shippou sighed again. That left him without his favorite target for mischief. Suddenly, his nose twiched. He smelled Kagome and Inuyasha! As he turned and looked down the well, he was suddenly hit with a large yellow backpack. "Ahhh!" he cried as it fell on top of him. "Get this thing off of me!" he yelled. 'What does mama-Kagome put in this thing, bricks?' he thought.  
Inuyasha leaped out of the well carrying Kagome in his arms. When they landed, he set Kagome down and she rushed to help Shippou. "Oh, Shippou! I'm sorry! Let me get that off you."  
Inuyasha was laughing. "Kagome, wait! Don't help him just yet."  
"Why not?!" Kagome demanded.  
"Yeah," wailed Shippou, "why not?!"  
Chuckling, Inuyasha explained. "Shippou, you are a youkai. Even a child youkai such as you should be able to pick up this pack."  
"Inuyasha, your being mean to Shippou!"  
"Yeah, your being mean to me! Make him pick up this pack, mama- Kagome!"  
Inuyasha took on a more somber look. "Kagome, if we are to be mates, then Shippou will be my son. As his father, it will be my duty to raise him in the way of a youkai. He needs to begin testing his limits in strength, so that he can become stronger. I will be teaching him to hunt and to fight, as well. Sometimes this may seem mean, but I promise that I will never put him in life threatening danger."  
Kagome's mouth dropped open. She hadn't really considered the fact that Inuyasha would be training Shippou. And she hadn't thought that he would adopt Shippou so easily.  
"What's the problem, Kagome? Didn't you think I would train and raise him as my own?" asked Inuyasha, irritably.  
Kagome shook her head. "I really didn't think much about it at all. I'm very happy that you want to raise him, though." Kagome stepped up to Inuyasha and kissed him on the cheek.  
Inuyasha grinned and touched his cheek. "You heard her Shippou. Pick up that pack. Your father says so."  
Shippou's jaw dropped. Then he closed his mouth and got a determined look on his face. He put his hands under himself and pushed up. Grunting with the effort, he slowly stood and pushed the heavy backpack to one side. He stood there panting from the effort with a look of triumph on his face.  
Inuyasha smiled slightly, "Good job, runt. Now you can carry it."  
"Inuyasha!" exclaimed Kagome. "Carry that bag!"  
"No, mama-Kagome. I want to carry it. Papa-Inu is right."  
"Papa-Inu?!" exclaimed Kagome and Inuyasha together.  
Shippou grinned at Inuyasha and gripped the pack. "I've wanted to call you that for a while, Inuyasha. So now your stuck with it, papa-Inu." Shippou grunted as he hefted the backpack that was as big as himself. Grinning at his adopted parents, he started down the hill toward the village.  
Kagome started to follow Shippou when she felt two arms around her waist, restraining her gently. Inuyasha leaned over her shoulder and kissed her on the side of the neck. Kagome shivered with reaction. "Stop that ..... papa-Inu."  
Inuyasha chuckled. "Ya' know, I liked being called that. I could get used to it real quick. Of course, I wouldn't mind hearing it from pups of my own."  
Kagome blushed. "Someday you will. But we're not starting now!"  
Inuyasha growled in frustration. "I know, I know. But you can't blame a guy for wishing!"  
Kagome blushed even more. "Your not the only one wishing, but we agreed to wait until Naraku was gone and we were married."  
Inuyasha let go of Kagome and got a slightly wild eyed look. "Your mother isn't serious about her plans is she?"  
Flashback  
"Your going to be what!" Kagome's mother exclaimed.  
"Mates." explained Inuyasha. "Don't worry. Dog demons mate for life, I will never leave her."  
"That's not the point! You should be getting married!"  
"Dog demons don't marry, they mate."  
"Didn't your father marry your mother?"  
"Well, that was different. Grandfather required it."  
"Well, I require it too. Don't worry Inuyasha! I'll take care of all the arrangements." she began to mumble to herself, "Let's see. Who to invite? Aunt Yuka, of course, and ... " her voice trailed off.  
"She's not serious, is she Kagome?"  
"Yes, she is. And, to tell you the truth, I want a wedding."  
"Oh, all right! But I want it small."  
Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha, my mother thinks of a party of 100 as small. And she will go all out on this."  
"Inuyasha!" called Asami. "I hope you don't mind an outdoor ceremony. We'll never fit everyone in the shrine."  
Inuyasha made a strangled sound.  
End flashback  
Kagome laughed at Inuyasha. "Come on, silly. Let's catch up to Shippou."  
Inuyasha groaned. "Will we at least have some say in this thing?"  
Kagome looked over her shoulder at the depressed hanyou. "Maybe. If we're very polite and don't interfer with her ideas."  
Inuyasha sighed and rolled his eyes.  
"You know," stated Kagome, "we need to see if we can take the others through the well. They will be disappointed if they have to miss it."  
Inuyasha brightened. "At least there would be someone there that I know."  
They continued to discuss the wedding and the arrangements as they walked. Soon they caught up with Shippou. Inuyasha took pity on the kitsune and releaved him of the pack.  
"I can carry it!" protested the kitsune but Inuyasha cut him off.  
"I know you can. I just want to get to the village before night!" Inuyasha winked at Kagome over the boys head so that she would know he was teasing.  
"I would have made it before night!"  
"Weeelll maybe. Anyway, the sooner we get to Kaede's, the sooner we eat."  
"In that case, what are we waiting for?!" exclaimed Shippou. He took off at a run. "Hurry up, you slowpokes!"  
Grrr..."Wait till I get my hands on him..."  
Kagome laughed. "If you can tease him, he can tease you." With that, she took off at a run too. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"  
Inuyasha protested, "Hey, wait a minute! I've got this stupid pack!"   
  
Three horsemen approached the village from the north. The man in the lead held up his hand for the others to halt. He walked his horse to a farmer in the field next to the road.  
"You there." the horseman said in a preemptory tone. "Where can I find Inuyasha?"  
"The hanyou? What business do you have with that demon?" asked the farmer.  
"That is none of your concern. And be more respectful of 'that demon' as you say. He is the son of a lord and a lady."  
"Since his mother was human, she couldn't have been much of a lady!" said the farmer, insolently.  
The lead horseman's face grew red with anger. Swiftly, he dismounted and stepped up to the farmer. He grabbed the front of the farmer's shirt and lifted him off the ground. "I should kill you for your disrespect. And may still do so. Now, where is Inuyasha?"  
"Ch - check at Kaede's! That is where he usually stays. With the high priestess Kaede!"  
The horseman shook the farmer. "Fool! Where can I find Kaede?"  
"Go to the village! Ask anyone! They can point out her hut! I swear!"  
The horseman threw the farmer to the ground. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?" His voice hardened, "Treat the young lord Inuyasha with more respect or I will return and finish this. Do you understand?"  
"Yes, good sir!" the farmer said, fearfully. "I understand and I will, I promise!"  
The horseman made no comment as he remounted and motioned for the others to follow him. 'Now to find this high priestess Kaede. Interesting that a demon is living with a miko. Oh well, that is none of my business. I just have to find Inuyasha.' With that thought, he and his companions entered the village.  
  
A/N: I hope you like chapter one. Please let me know what you think. I am trying for longer chapters, so it will be longer between postings. Be patient. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
A/N: I have returned! I have been catching up on my reading. I like Mercedes Lackey, Robert Jordan, Alan Dean Foster and too many others to list. I also like Del Kaiden and Mija Maryanne. They have some interesting fics. Thank you for the kind reviews. I am very happy that you enjoy this story. Now, for a quick note on the brginning of this fic. I goofed. There is a prologue to this story that I forgot to put at the beginning. I have placed it at the end of 'The Pain of Being Alone' that this story is the sequal of. That will explain why Inuyasha and Kagome are ready to be mates and how his family found out about him. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha and with two teen-age daughters, I'm glad!  
  
The three horsemen rode into the village in silence. Someone would stop and stare at them every so often, and then would return to their business. The leader and his companions ignored the stares as they made their way through the village. They pulled up in front of the inn. The innkeeper quickly came out. These travelers looked properous and the innkeeper was anxious to please these potential guests.  
"Hail, travelers! Stop and rest! I have good food and better wine! Dismount, my boy will care for your horses!" he spoke loudly and with exagerrated cheer.  
"I think not, innkeeper, at least not right now. I have business to attend to. Could you direct me to the high priestess Kaede's hut? I have a message for her guest, Inuyasha."  
"Guest!?" the innkeeper exclaimed with a barking laugh. "Nuisance, is more like it. Besides, he doesn't really stay there unless the miko Kagome is around. He usually just eats there. Still, you can probably find him there. If he isn't there now, he soon will be. Her hut is on the edge of the village near the forest. Just go through the village heading south and you will find it."  
"My thanks, innkeeper. Here is something for your trouble." The leader flipped a coin of moderate value to the man.  
The innkeeper smiled broadly. "No problem! And when your business is concluded at Kaede's, come back for a meal and some of that wine."  
The lead horseman nodded to the man and nudged his horse in the ribs to get him moving. The others followed him.  
The ingratiating smile of the innkeeper disappeared when the men turned away. 'Nuisance! I can't believe I just said he was a nuisance! A curse is more like it! If he left this village for good, I would dance for joy! And others would, too. He would probably be gone now if it wasn't for Kaede and that girl who woke him up!' "You would think that demon exterminator or that monk would have rid us of him!" he muttered.  
"Is there a problem, innkeeper?" asked a voice, coldly.  
Startled, the innkeeper looked up. He hadn't noticed the horseman turn back to face him. Quickly, he smiled and stated, "Problem? No problem, friend! Why do you think I have a problem?"  
"By the look on your face, innkeeper. Your sweating. Now why would a man with no problems sweat like that when he isn't working hard? Perhaps your problem is with the hanyou, Inuyasha?" the horseman asked quietly.  
"Look stranger. I don't know you or what your business with the dog demon is and I could care less. All I know is that demon hangs around this village and it's bad for business! People hear of a demon and it doesn't matter if he is good or evil, they don't come through and if they do, they don't stop! So, yes, I do have a problem with the hanyou!" the innkeeper said with some heat.  
"So much of a problem, you would wish him dead?"  
The innkeeper drew a deep breath. "Honestly? Sometimes yes. He has protected us in the past but half the time if he hadn't been here we wouldn't have needed the protection in the first place! The only good thing about him being here is the girl, Kagome. And she needs to learn her place! Her clothing is indecent! Now, I suppose that you won't come back here after your done with the demon, huh?" concluded the innkeeper in a huff.  
The horseman actually smiled at the innkeeper, but it was feral. It did nothing to ease the innkeepers apprehension. "Why, innkeeper! You should become a fortune teller! Because you fortold our future perfectly!"  
So saying the horseman turned and rode off. This time the innkeeper watched the retreating back until it was gone. He sighed. 'Oh well, at least I got something out of it.' he thought as he tossed the coin into the air. 'It's just too bad that I couldn't have gotten more.'   
The leader of the group fumed at the disrespect shown to Inuyasha. The cousin of his lord deserved better treatment than that! Daremo pulled up in front of the hut that he had been directed to. 'Let's see if that innkeeper gave me adequate directions.' He dismounted and approached the door of the hut. He tapped on the door.  
"Aye? Who is it?" asked an elderly womans voice.  
"I seek the high priestess Kaede. I am seeking a friend of hers."  
"Indeed." An old one eyed woman opened the door of the hut. "I am Kaede. Who is the friend that ye seek?"  
"I seek the hanyou Inuyasha."  
A man's form appeared behind the elderly miko. "What business do you have with Inuyasha?" he inquired.  
"That is none of your concern." stated Daremo. He glared at the robed figure. "My business is with him and I would stay out of it, if I were you." Daremo was getting tired of these nosy peasants! 'Why can't they answer a simple question?'  
"Miroku, let us hear what the traveler has to say."  
"I have nothing else to say until Lord Inuyasha arrives." Daremo said with some heat, not realizing that he had given Inuyasha a title.  
"Lord Inuyasha!?" exclaimed Kaede and Miroku. "Lord Inuyasha?" was repeated from inside the hut in a young woman's voice. The owner of the voice appeared.  
"Now who would call Inuyasha lord other than Myoga?" she asked.  
"I don't know who this Myoga is that you speak of," said Daremo with disdain, "but at least he knows proper manners when in the presence of a noble."  
Kaede's eyebrow raised. The faces of Miroku and the young woman grew cold.  
Miroku spoke first. "We have been Inuyasha's traveling companions for some time. He has never been one to stand on ceremony. He has never required us to acknowledge his birthright. He has never claimed it."  
"But you did know of it! Even if he did not claim it, he should have been treated with the respect that he is due!"  
The young woman's eyes narrowed. "Why are you so insistant that we pay respect to the son of a demon lord? Most humans could care less that he has that heritage!"  
"It is not his demon heritage that I am refering to, even though it is due respect! It is his human heritage that makes me call him lord!"  
"His human side!?" all three exclaim together.   
  
Inuyasha caught up with Kagome and scooped her up with a grin.  
"Aahh! Inuyasha?! What are you doing?!"  
"You don't want to be a rotten egg, do you?" his grin got wider. "Because you won't beat me, and if I don't carry you, you won't beat the runt either!" So saying, he put on the speed. Soon, they could see the little kitsune running ahead of them. They were getting near the village and Kaede's hut, so Inuyasha increased his effort. Shippou glanced over his shoulder and let out an "Aahh!" and tried to speed up. Inuyasha caught up with the kitsune and paced him for a second. "Now to show you how to run, squirt!" Inuyasha crowed. Inuyasha passed Shippou with ease. 'Just in time, too.' thought Inuyasha. 'Kaede's hut is just over this rise.'  
As Inuyasha topped the rise, he suddenly slowed down.  
"What's wrong, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome. "Why are we slowing down?" She turned her head and looked toward Kaede's hut.  
Inuyasha set Kagome down as he came to a halt. "There are hor......" he was interrupted as Shippou plowed into him from behind. He had been running with his head down trying to catch up to Inuyasha and slammed into the back of Inuyasha's legs. Of course, he just bounced off but it did distract Inuyasha.  
"Owww! Papa-Inu?! Why did you stop?!" wailed the fox demon.  
"Feh! As I was saying, runt, before you ran into me, there are horses at Kaede's."  
"Why would there be horses at Kaede's? We don't know anyone with horses." asked Kagome.  
"I don't know, but I intend to find out. Stay behind me just in case these guys aren't friendly. They better be friendly, if they have hurt Kaede..." Inuyasha's voice promised much pain if that was the case.  
Inuyasha took off at a run toward Kaede's hut, leaving Kagome and Shippou to trail behind. He stopped at the side of the hut when he heard voices. 'Let's see what these riders want.' he thought. As Kagome came up behind him, he motioned for her to be quiet.  
"Who are they? And, what do they want?" Kagome whispered when she reached his side.  
"I don't know who they are, but one of them just reprimanded Kaede, Miroku, and Sango for a lack of manners."  
"What? Your kidding!? Miroku has perfect manners, he just can't keep his hands to himself!"  
Inuyasha's face took on a puzzled look. "Now, they are talking about traveling with me and that I never wanted something ..... respect?"  
Suddenly, Inuyasha's eyes got wide and he paled slightly.  
"What's wrong, Inuyasha? Are you alright?"  
Inuyasha straightened. "We need to see this man. I have some questions for him." His face was beginning to get angry.  
"Why? What did he say?"  
"He knows my family. My human family."  
  
A/N: Had a bit of writer's block. I know where I want to go, just have trouble getting there, sometimes. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
A/N: Greetings and salutations! Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha. Now, with that said, let the games begin!  
  
Inuyasha stepped around the corner of the hut. As he revealed himself to his friends and Daremo, he shouted, "Alright! You came looking for me! Here I am! Who are you and what do you want?"  
Daremo turned and saw the angry hanyou striding toward him with a young woman and child behind him. He surprised everyone by dropping to his knees and bowing forward until his head touched the ground. "My lord Inuyasha! Please forgive me for seeking you out in this manner. My name is Daremo and I bear letters for you from my master, Lord Tanaka!"  
Inuyasha was shocked. That was a name that he hadn't heard in a long time and he had called the man master. It was impossible! He had to be dead by now or else well over 100 years old! "I knew of a Tanaka, once." he said, coldly. "It cannot be the same man and if it is, I have no desire to see him unless it is to kill him!"  
His friends looked at each other in shock and in fascination. All knew that this was something important in their friend's life by the way he was reacting and by the way that this Daremo character was behaving. Miroku actually smiled slightly. 'Now we may find out somethings about our evasive friend's past.' he thought.  
"No. No. Please, my lord! That was the father who did you such injustice. This letter is from his son! He bears you no ill will!" Daremo explained from his bowing position.  
Inuyasha growled and sighed at the same time. "Will you get up!?" he demanded. "I don't like having people bow to me."  
"Well, my lord, it is your due." came a voice from his hair.  
Grrrr..."Figures. Now I've got two of them calling me lord. Myouga, stay out of this." Inuyasha directed his attention back at Daremo, who was still on his knees but had risen from the low bow. "Alright. So the father is dead. That's good news! Now, why should I care about his son? And what does he want with me?"  
Daremo held out a rolled scroll. "This is a letter from my master. Please read it."  
Inuyasha reached for the letter but Kagome beat him to it. "What are you doing?" Inuyasha hissed.  
"I thought I would read it for you." Kagome whispered to him.  
"And why would I need you to read it for me?" asked Inuyasha in a low voice with a hint of anger.  
"Well," Kagome began weakly, "I know you can't read..."  
"And who told you I can't read!" exploded Inuyasha. "I can read! And I can write, too! I can even count past ten without using my toes or did you think I went barefoot so that I could count to twenty!"  
Kagome flushed with embarressment and then with anger. "I'm sorry!" she shouted. "You just never showed any interest in reading before! And the way you act, someone could think that you were illeterate!"  
"Well, excuse me! Maybe you would see me read sometime if you weren't running of to your time all the time! And when your here, I don't have time to read because you are always needing saved, wench!"  
Daremo was watching this, dumbfounded. His mouth dropped open a fraction watching the two of them get more and more heated. Glancing at Lord Inuyasha's friends to see how they were taking this he saw that they were watching with a kind of resigned amusement. "Do they do this often?" he asked Kaede.  
Sigh "More often than necessary. Sometimes, I think they enjoy it. Except for ... "  
"Inuyasha! SIT! Don't call me a wench!"  
Whomp "Arrrgh!"  
"that. Ye would think he would learn, but some dogs never learn new tricks."  
No one was ready for what happened next. Daremo's eyes widened. "Witch! You dare use magic on one of noble blood?!"  
Kagome turned to look at Daremo, with a surprised look on her face. This look was mirrorred by her friends, except Inuyasha, who was still eating dirt.  
Daremo's two companions came up from the horses and flanked him. Daremo laid his hand on his sword hilt, his companions mirrorred him. "Release him at once, witch!" Kagome looked at him with a look of disbelief on her face. This quickly turned to fear as Daremo drew his sword. "I said, release him! Or I'll break the spell with your blood." He took a step toward Kagome. That was as far as he got. With a savage growl, Inyasha broke free of the compulsion spell. He hit Daremo before he knew what was coming.  
Inuyasha had Daremo in the air by his throat."Never threaten my mate again!" he shouted in Daremo's face. Then he threw him at his companions, knocking all three to the ground. He took the letter and threw it at him. "Take this to your master and get out of my sight. If I see you again ... " He trailed off, letting Daremo fill in the implied threat. He turned to Kagome to see if she was alright.  
Daremo's face took on a look of horror. His mission was failing and he had attacked the mate of Lord Inuyasha! He took a deep breath and decided that it was time to reveal the letter from the Lady Mariko. "Lord Inuyasha! Please hear me!" he called to Inuyasha's back. "If you wish my life for my transgression, then take it! But this letter is of vital importance! Please read it!" On his knees and with his head bowed, he held out the letter from Lady Mariko in his upheld hands.  
Inuyasha looked back at Daremo. Then he snorted and would have continued on until a hand pressed against his chest. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and said, "What could it hurt? We can hear him out and if we don't like what he has to say, then we can get rid of him."  
Inuyasha growled and then sighed. "Very well, but only because you asked." He turned back to Daremo. "What is this letter?" he said as he snatched it from Daremo's hands. He held it up to his face to read the seal. Before he could read the seal a whiff of a scent hit his nose from the letter. He stopped and took a deeper sniff. Suddenly, deeply buried memories of his childhood flooded back into his mind. His face turned pale and he almost collapsed in shock. He hadn't realized he had gone to one knee until Kagome's hands were on his shoulders. The rest were standing around him as well, all with concerned looks on their faces. Even Daremo had approached, looking to see if he were well.  
"Are you ok, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome. Her voice was filled with concern and her eyes had worry in their depths. She turned to look at Daremo. Now her eyes held the fire of anger, "What did you do to him?!"  
"Nothing, my lady. I just gave him the letter from the Lady Mariko." answered Daremo, his hands in front of him trying to placate the angry young woman.  
"You lie!" said Inuyasha, hoarsely. He stood slowly. "She is from another time and another place! Another life!"  
"No, my lord Inuyasha!" protested Daremo. "I swear to you that she handed this letter to me herself with instructions to give it to you in case you didn't want to come!"  
Inuyasha's friends were mystified. Who was this woman that had upset Inuyasha so much? Finally, Kagome could contain her curiosity no longer. She feared that this woman could be an old girlfriend but she had to know. "Inuyasha? Who is this Lady Mariko?"  
Inuyasha ignored her. He was off in his own thoughts and was talking to himself. "It can't be. It's been over 60 years! She can't still be alive!"  
Kagome tried again. "Inuyasha? Inuyasha!" She got his attention this time. He looked at her with a 'What do you want?' look in his eyes. "Who is the Lady Mariko?"  
He sighed deeply. "Someone I thought long dead or I would have gone to her already." His head bowed for a moment and Kagome's fears of a former love increased. When he looked up, his eyes were bright with unshed tears. With a sad, almost bitter half smile, he said, "I loved her more than any woman in my life except my mother. And I haven't allowed myself to think of her in years. She is my mother's younger sister."  
Kagome almost collapsed with relief. "She's your aunt?! That's wonderful, Inuyasha!"  
Sango looked on with amusement and relief. She was Kagome's confidant and could almost read her thoughts, by this time. Her soul sister had been through enough with Inuyasha's former girlfried. It wouldn't have been fair to subject her to that again so soon after resolving the mess with Kikyo.  
Inuyasha looked at Daremo. "I need to know something. Why did a letter arrive for me from the Lady Mariko with a letter from Lord Tanaka? She should hate that name as much as I."  
Daremo looked puzzled. "Why should she hate that name? It is her son's."  
"What?!" bellowed Inuyasha.  
  
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this. 


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
A/N: I don't own Inuyasha and I can't find anyone who will rent him out. Now, I have some fun things in store for our favorite hanyou 'grins evilly', so I had best get started on his adventure.  
  
"What?!" bellowed Inuyasha.  
Before Daremo could answer, Kaede interupted. "Inuyasha. I believe that this man has many things that ye need to hear. Let's go into the hut for some privacy. I don't think that ye want everyone to hear these things." Kaede looked around for emphasis.  
Inuyasha looked around and noticed a crowd had gathered. Scowling, he turned to Kaede. "For once you're right, old woman. I don't want everyone knowing my business, so let's go inside." He motioned for Daremo to enter the hut before him. Kagome followed Inuyasha through the door, carrying Shippou. Then came Miroku and Sango, with Kaede bringing up the rear. Inuyasha scowled at the monk and the exterminator and started to tell them that this was none of their business as well, but he stopped. 'They might as well know.' he thought with a sigh. 'They are part of my pack.' He waited until everyone was comfortable and then looked at Daremo. "Alright. Now, explain why my aunt would associate with the son of the man who was responsible for her father's death." Inuyasha ignored the gasps of surprise from his friends. "And how could he be her son, as well? I know she wouldn't have married the old Lord Tanaka, not willingly." That brought a terrible thought to the hanyou's mind, what if the former lord had forced her to marry him and then had forced her to bear a child! A growl escaped his lips, "Well, Daremo? You wanted a chance to explain, do so!"  
"Thank you, Lord Inuyasha!" Daremo looked reflective for a moment. "Perhaps it would be best for me to begin with the last time you were with your aunt and grandfather."  
"Is that really necessary?" complained Inuyasha. "That is a part of my life that I don't want people to know about."  
"It would help me clarify some things for you." explained Daremo.  
Grrr..."Very well. I guess they might as well know." Inuyasha glared at his companions. "What you hear, stays here. I don't want anyone else knowing my life story!"  
Miroku held up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "We have never revealed any of your secrets, Inuyasha. It would be foolish to start now."  
Sango nodded. "You have always kept our trusts. We could do no less for you."  
Inuyasha looked at Kaede. "Well, old woman. What about you?"  
Kaede looked at him with mild disgust in her eye. "Since when have I been a gossip, ye impertinant pup! The secrets that ye have are for you to reveal or not." Kaede grew thoughtful. "I notice that ye don't require this from Kagome or Shippou."  
"Kagome is my mate and will keep my secrets. Shippou ... " he paused, "Shippou is my pup now and I trust him to keep my secrets." He looked at Shippou. Shippou gulped and thought about what was just said. He resolved that he wouldn't tell anybody what was said in the hut.  
"Alright, Daremo." Inuyasha sank to the floor with his legs crossed and his arms folded across his chest. " Start talking."  
"As you wish, my Lord." Daremo grew thoughtful. "I was not present at the time of these things, I just know what I have been told."  
"Just get on with it! If you make any mistakes that I know of, I'll let you know." growled Inuyasha.  
"Then let us begin with your arrival at the court of your grandfather, General Yamata."  
That was as far as Daremo got when all present gasped, except for Inuyasha, Myoga, and Shippou. For Inuyasha and Myoga, this was old news. Shippou was too young and had never heard the name before.  
"General Yamata!" exclaimed Miroku.  
"Surely not General Fuji Yamata!" said a startled Sango.  
"I knew that ye had noble blood, Inuyasha. But I never dreamed it was his!" stated an astounded Kaede.  
"You told me that your grandfather was a general in service to a lord, but you didn't tell me who! Inuyasha, they teach about this man in my time! He could have been Shogun!"  
Grrr... "This is why I didn't want anyone to know my lineage. Yes, my grandfather was THE General Fuji Yamata. And, yes, he could have been Shogun. He chose to honor his vow to his lord and serve him and the people of his province." He stood and began to pace. "It didn't do him any good when he fell into disfavor with his lord, the Lord Tanaka."  
"If I may continue?" asked an impatient Daremo. "Now, as I was saying. After the death of your father, you came to the court of your grandfather with your mother, his daughter. You stayed there for about a year, when the lord took it into his head that you were a threat to his title. This was because of the pact made between your father and General Yamata."  
"What was this pact?" inquired Inuyasha. "I have heard a little about it but I don't know the particulars."  
"Allow me, Daremo." interrupted Myoga. "I was present at the time of the pact and I know what it is all about."  
"With pleasure, Myoga. I don't know that much of the pact except for hearsay." defered Daremo.  
"This pact that has been spoken of was between the General Yamata and the Demon Lord of the Western Lands. The pact was one of mutual defense. An alliance between the humans of the western lands and the inu-youkai that was sealed by the marriage of your father and mother. Now, let me hasten to explain that your father and mother loved each other deeply and that the alliance was part of the arrangement to allow the marriage. Then, when you were born, you were the more physical proof of the alliance. The alliance was one of nonagression from demons toward humans and humans toward demons. It also provided for assistance in case of attack from an outside force. And, as far as I know, it is still in effect, since you are still alive."  
"Your kidding! Sesshomoru will never honor that pact!" exclaimed Inuyasha.  
"Actually, I have a letter for him from the Lord Tanaka." stated Daremo.  
"Good luck delivering it! He won't even see you." scoffed Inuyasha.  
"I was hoping that you would deliver it, since he is your brother." said Daremo.  
"He and I don't have the best relationship. We have a truce for now, but I don't know how long that will last."  
"Well, we can try. Anyway, the Lord Tanaka got it into his mind that this pact was for support in an attempt to take his seat of power. At first, he accepted your grandfather's assurances that this was not true, but after the death of your father the thought surfaced that the general would want to secure a title for you in the human realm since your brother held the title in the demon realm. Enemies of your grandfather who were jealous of the influence that he held with the lord and the people whispered words of deception into the lord's ear. His petty fears grew to the point that he ordered your grandfather to prove his loyalty to him by publicly executing you." At this point, Daremo was again interrupted.  
"Monstrous!" spat Miroku. "To order the death of an innocent to prove one's loyalty. He did not deserve the title of lord!" Sango could only nod in shocked agreement.  
"It was a vile act!" exclaimed Kaede. "And it explains some of thy feelings toward nobles, Inuyasha."  
"To continue," said Daremo with a glare at the interruption, "the general obviously did not carry out that order. Instead, he sent his older daughter and her son into hiding. Then, because he had disobeyed his lord, he felt he had to redeem his honor. He committed sepaku. They say he died bravely."  
"He did." said Inuyasha, quietly. "I know. I watched."  
His friends looked at him in horror. "I didn't understand why we were being sent away. My grandfather had tried to explain that it was for my safety. That someone wanted to hurt me and that he couldn't protect me from this person, but I couldn't see anyone being able to defeat Grandfather. I had watched him in the dojo and he was still a fierce warrior even at his age. I went back to talk to him and see if we could fight this person together. When I got to the compound, I saw him on his knees surrounded by strange warriors. My grandfather had taught me not to rush into things so I hid in the bushes to see what was going on. I heard him tell one of the soldiers to take a letter back to Lord Tanaka and to tell him that he regreted not being able to carry out his order but that he was not going to kill his grandson. He told them that since his honor was forfeit, he would do the only honorable thing left for him. The leader of the soldiers protested but my grandfather simply held up his hand for silence and motioned for his most trusted retainer to come forward. I saw him take out his katana and give it to his retainer and say, "You know what must be done." He then took his short sword and commited sepaku." Inuyasha paused, a tear ran down is face, "I watched him make all the cuts necesary to complete the ritual and then he bowed his head for his retainer to remove it. As he bowed his head, I started to come out of the bushes. He saw me and shook his head. He mouthed the word, "Run." and then he was gone. And I ran." Kagome came up to him and he gathered her into his arms. He felt her sob against him and he knew it was for the pain that he had went through. He held her and buried his face in her hair. Finally, he looked up. "It was then that I decided that I would never run from a fight again, no matter what the odds."  
"I grieve with you, Lord Inuyasha. And it was a great injustice that woke the lord to his mistake, but it was too late for your grandfather. The Lord Tanaka decided that he needed to make amends to the surviving daughter and her son, your aunt and cousin, so he adopted your cousin and made him his heir."  
"So your telling me that my cousin, Genki, is the current Lord Tanaka!" said Inuyasha, in disbelief.  
"The very same, my Lord. Now, will you read his letter?"  
  
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this. There is much more that I have in mind and I am having a lot of fun getting there, so bear with me. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
A/N: Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them. Just remember, if you have any criticism, tell me! I do not get offended and I want to write better stories. Now for the standard disclaimer, I don't own Inuyasha, but my kids keep wanting to name a puppy after him! laughs Any of you parents have similar problems? Sometimes I think we need to start a support group for parents with anime nuts for kids! grins But, then again, I'm not much better. Drives my wife crazy! Anyway, let's see what mischief I can get Inuyasha into now.  
  
"Alright, Daremo. I'll read those letters now. But I'm beginning with my aunt's letter."  
"Excellent, Lord Inuyasha, excellent! In what ever order you wish." Daremo handed Inuyasha the letter from the Lady Mariko, pleased that he was going to complete his mission.  
"And Daremo..." started Inuyasha.  
"Yes, my Lord."  
"Stop calling me Lord. Just Inuyasha. I don't like titles." explained the irritated hanyou.  
Inuyasha took the letter from his aunt and held it to his nose again, taking a deep breath through his nose to get the scent again. Smiling slightly, he broke the seal with almost eager anticipation. He opened the scroll and began to scan its contents. He smiled fondly at what he read there. Kagome and his friends waited with eagerness, but as the minutes passed, they began to get agitated. Finally, Kagome could stand it no longer.  
"Well?" she prompted.  
"Well, what?" asked Inuyasha in return.  
"Well, what does it say?!" she asked in exasperation.  
"Feh! That's my business! It's my letter!" retorted the hanyou, his usual rudeness coming through.  
Kagome's face darkened. "I-NU-YASH-A..." she began.  
The hanyou in question suddenly cringed back. He held up his hand. "Okay, okay! I'll read it to you." he said, quickly. "Man! A guy can't have any privacy around here!"  
Kagome smiled brightly. "That's sweet, Inuyasha! I knew you would see it my way!"  
Inuyasha growled. Miroku hid his smile behind his hand, Kaede quirked an eyebrow, and Sango stiffled a chuckle. Daremo watched this by play with apprehension, sure that Lord Inuyasha was about to eat dirt again.  
Inuyasha glared at his companions. "Don't laugh." he warned flatly, then he began. "To my dearest Inu-chan," he paused there to glare at the others as a blush appeared on his cheeks.  
Kagome smiled at him softly and said, "Go on. Your doing fine."  
Clearing his throut, he continued. "Words cannot describe the joy that I felt on finding out that you were alive, my darling one. Those many years ago, when you and your mother were sent away into hiding, I dreamed of the day when the two of you could return. Those dreams were shattered with the news of the death of my sister. No word was given about your fate and we assumed that you had perished with her, since you were a young child. Later, we heard rumors of a hanyou named Inuyasha who was after the famed Jewel of the Four Souls. Messengers were sent to find you, to tell you that it was safe to return home, but it was too late! You had been pinned to that tree by that priestess. I mourned your loss again. Now, you are alive and I must see you! Please return with Daremo that these old eyes may see you and these old arms hold you before my time is at an end. I love you as much as if you were my own son, Inu-chan. Please come home to me." Inuyasha cleared his throut again, his voice had gone husky with emotion during the reading. "It's signed, Lady Mariko."  
Kagome, her eyes bright, walked up to Inuyasha and kissed him lightly. "Thank you for reading your letter to us, Inu-chan."  
"I have two more letters for you, my lor..., um, Inuyasha." Daremo stumbled as Inuyasha glared at him. He extended the next letter.  
With a resigned look at Kagome, he opened the next letter. He looked at it briefly before looking at the others. "This is just a formal invitation for me to ' present myself to the Lord Tanaka.' There's no need to read it aloud."  
"Indeed, Inuyasha. And this final letter for you is a bit more informal." Daremo handed him the last letter.  
Inuyasha looked at Kagome, again. "I suppose you are going to want me to read this one aloud, too."  
Kagome just looked at him and smiled sweetly.  
Grrr... "Feh." was all he would say before opening the letter. He scanned it and burst out into curses.  
Everyone jumped, except Daremo. It was his turn to hide a smile. He knew what his master had written in the letter!  
"Inuyasha! What's wrong?" inquired Kagome.  
"That sorry excuse for a breathing human! Just wait until I get my hands on him!" Inuyasha continued to rant.  
Kagome picked up the letter from where Inuyasha had thrown it when he started his rant. She read it aloud, incredulously. "Dear Inu-jiji, I challenge you to a game of 'Go'. I await your conveineince. Or are you too senile to remember how to play!" She began to laugh. "Inu-jiji?" she gasped.  
Everyone else began laughing, as well. "Oh, Buddha!" gasped Miroku, when he finally had some control over himself. "Why did he call you 'Inu- jiji'?"  
"It's a bad nickname from my childhood." Inuyasha grated out. "And if you know what's good for you, monk, you won't start using it!"  
"But, that doesn't tell us why he called you that, Inuyasha." said Sango, now that she was able to breath normally again.  
Groan... "He called me that because of my hair." Inuyasha explained. "Since it was silver and only old people had silver hair..."  
"He took to calling ye, Inu-jiji! So, how do ye like being of my generation, Inuyasha?" asked Kaede.  
"Shut up, you old hag." said Inuyasha crossly.  
"I can be ready to leave immediately, Inuyasha. Just inform me of the hour and I will see to the provisions." said Daremo.  
"Hold." commanded Inuyasha. "Who said I was going?"  
The laughter died in the shock that followed that statement.  
"But ... but, my lord, please!" began Daremo.  
"Inuyasha! How could you? You'll break your aunt's heart!" raved Kagome.  
Inuyasha winced at that. "Need I remind you that I have a life here!? We have jewel shards to find and a wedding to plan!"  
"Inuyasha! Sit!" roared Kagome. "If you think that I am going to sit by hunt jewel shards for you while you break the heart of that woman, you had better think again. And as for the wedding, we aren't formally mated, yet. And if you want to be, you had better rethink your position."  
By now, Inuyasha had been released from the spell. "Kagome, you wouldn't." he said in panic.  
Kagome looked at him and saw the fear in his eyes. Sigh... "No, Inuyasha. I wouldn't." she said softly. "But sometimes you make me so mad."  
"Okay, Kagome. We'll go. Besides, I really do want to see my aunt again." he confessed. "And I want to beat that good for nothing cousin of mine in 'Go' again!"  
"Daremo! Get the supplies together. When your done, we will leave for my cousin's."  
"As you wish, Inuyasha." Daremo left quickly, thinking to himself that it was just as well that he didn't have to tell the young hanyou lord everything. His master could do that when they arrived.  
  
A/N: Having fun yet? I am! I'll see you soon! laughs evilly 


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
A/N: 5 Chapters and 25 reviews. Not too shabby. Thank you one and all for your reviews. I'm having a lot of fun writing this. The biggest problem I have is finding time to write. More's the pity! Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha & company, but if enough of us get together, maybe we can stage a hostile takeover! Enough with the bad jokes, onward and upward! Talley Ho!  
  
Preparations for the journey went quickly since Inuyasha and his friends were accustomed to traveling on short notice. At first light, they met in front of Kaede's hut to say good-bye to the elderly miko.  
"Fare thee well, Inuyasha. Guard the others well. Kagome, child, try to keep that stubourn hanyou out of trouble. Miroku, try to keep thy hands to thyself. Sango, exercise patience and don't kill Miroku. Shippou, behave thyself. We shall see thee in a few weeks." So saying, Kaede turned and went back into her hut.  
"I'm glad we went through the well and told my mom about this trip." said Kagome. "She would get worried if I stayed gone that long without telling her what was going on." Kagome had gone back to her time for different clothing and something nice to wear when she met Inuyasha's aunt. 'Jeans were much better for extended traveling!' she thought.  
Daremo didn't approve of her new wardrobe but wisely kept his opinion to himself. He didn't want to risk Lord Inuyasha's anger again. He might decide not to come!  
"At least she didn't try to keep us for a long time with the wedding plans." grumbled Inuyasha. "If my hair wasn't already silver, it would turn gray with all the fuss she is putting up."  
"Well, she at least listened to you about Miroku doing the ceremony. Have you asked him yet?" Kagome indicated the houshi in question. He was edging nearer to Sango, and she was edging away from him! It was almost like a carefully arranged dance! Inuyasha shook his head. Kagome giggled. "You better hurry and ask him. He'll be unconcious soon if you don't."  
"Hey, Miroku!" yelled Inuyasha, interrupting the dance before it's final steps. "Get your tail over here! I have a question for you."  
"Sango!" Kagome called. "Would you come with him, please? I have a question for you, too."  
Miroku paused and let Sango go before him. After she passed, he smiled slightly and fell into step a few paces behind her, taking the opportunity to watch her walk from the rear. Kagome watched this new dance with amusement. She sighed and shook her head. Maybe those two would sort out their feelings like she and Inuyasha had, that is , if Miroku survived that long! The two traveling companions stopped next to Inuyasha and Kagome.  
"What did you wish to ask me, Inuyasha?" asked Miroku.  
"And what did you want with me, Kagome?" inquired Sango.  
Inuyasha looked at Kagome and smiled before looking at Miroku. "As you know, Kagome's mother is planning a wedding for us." At Miroku's nod he continued. "Well, Kagome and I have been talking about this and we would be honored if you would come through the well with us and conduct the ceremony."  
Miroku was dumbstruck. He opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. He cleared his throat and tried again. "The honor would be all mine, my friends! It would give me great pleasure to start you on the path of unity." He reached out and clasped Inuyasha forearm in a warriors handclasp. Inuyasha returned the handclasp with a grin.  
Kagome smiled at the interchange between the friends before looking at Sango. "And you, my dear friend, I want to be my maid of honor."  
Tears came to Sango's eyes. Not trusting herself to speak, she just nodded her agreement and hugged Kagome. And this started Kagome crying too.  
Daremo had watched and listened to this by play. He cleared his throat to get Lord Inuyasha's attention. "Forgive my intrusion, Inuyasha, but I thought you said that the Lady Kagome was your mate."  
"I did."  
"Then, what are these plans for a wedding you are talking about?"  
"That isn't really any of your business, now is it?" Inuyasha asked  
"Forgive me, my Lord. I was just trying to prevent any further misunderstandings between us."  
"Oh, go ahead and tell him, Inuyasha. It's not like it's a big secret." said Kagome.  
"Feh. Alright, alright! Okay, Daremo, here's your explanation. Kagome and I haven't officially mated yet. We have things that must be done first but as far as I am concerned, she is my mate and I will defend her with my life. And, while I'm explaining, I might as well tell you that the kitsune pup," he indicated Shippou, who was playing with some of the village children, "is our adopted son. Treat him as such."  
"As you wish, my lord Inuyasha. Thank you for the explanation."  
"Don't thank me, thank Kagome. And stop calling me lord!" Inuyasha said the last with some exasperation.  
"As you wish, Inuyasha. Now, if everyone is prepared?" At their nods he turned and headed for the horses.  
"I'll get Shippou." Kagome left the group to catch the kitsune.  
"Miroku, Sango, wait a moment." The two paused. "I want you to remember your promise to me."  
"Which one is that, Inuyasha?" asked Sango.  
"The one about Kouga." Inuyasha said quietly.  
Flashback  
"I don't see any of you telling Kagome that she should tell Kouga off. When he comes around, it upsets me greatly."  
"That's different!" protested Miroku. "Kouga has not threatened to kill Kagome! Kikyo has."  
"Your right. Kouga hasn't threatened to kill Kagome, he has threatened to kill me. But I guess that's alright!" snarled Inuyasha.  
"He's just posturing! He means nothing by it!" said Miroku.  
"You don't really believe that, do you? Sango, you know demons, enlighten this fool!" ordered the irate hayou.  
Sango looked uncomfortable with the turn of this conversation. "I think that Inuyasha may be right, Miroku."  
"What!?"  
Draws deep breath "Demons get very aggressive when it comes to mates and potential mates. If they think that their claim is threatened, they have been known to kill rivals or percieved rivals." explained Sango.  
"But his threats don't matter because they are directed at me, eh, Miroku. You've heard him make the threats but since they were made at me, you chose to ignore them!"  
Miroku paled slightly, realizing that he had done his friend an injustice. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I just assumed that it was similar to how men act over a woman.  
End flashback  
"We will be traveling through his territory and I may have to fight him. I don't want your help if that happens, just keep his pack off me."  
"Very well, Inuyasha. We will stand beside you in this, but remember, Kagome doesn't understand. In her time, people don't kill for mates." Miroku warned and Sango nodded agreement.  
"Yes. In some things, she is very mature. But in others, she is very naive."  
sigh "I know. I would just as soon resolve this without having to kill that wimpy wolf, but I don't think that will happen. Maybe Kagome will see the truth but I don't know."  
"Quiet! Here she comes!" hissed Sango.  
"Come on, guys! I've got Shippou! Let's go!" called Kagome.  
The group turned and walked to Daremo and his support. Daremo looked at them apoligetically. "I wasn't able to secure rides for you. There are no horses available for purchase."  
"That's alright, Daremo. We have ways of transport." Sango said as she called up Kirara.  
"You can keep up with horses?" he asked, skeptically.  
Sango nodded at Kirara. Kirara transformed into a large cat. Daremo shouted an oath and grabbed for his sword. Sango chuckled. "Kirara will have no problem keeping up with your horses. Miroku will ride with me."  
Daremo looked a Kirara, warily. "Okay. That takes care of you and the monk, but what about you, Inuyasha and Lady Kagome."  
Kagome smiled and pulled her bike from behind Kaede's hut. "We will be riding this."  
Daremo's jaw dropped. "What in the seven hells is that?"  
Kagome giggled. "It's called a bicycle. And I can use it to keep up with your horses, as long as they walk. I can even keep up at a trot for short distances. Anything longer than that, Inuyasha can carry me."  
Daremo shook his head. This was going to be an interesting journey! "Very well. Let's go."  
  
The first day of travel was uneventful except for the discussion between Inuyasha and Daremo concerning Sesshomaru. Daremo was determined to deliver the letter from his master to the Demon Lord of the West. Inuyasha could care less. He wasn't interested in deliberatly looking for his brother.  
"Inuyasha, I must deliver this letter."  
"If he shows up, Daremo, I will introduce you to him. But I am not looking for him. We have a truce, but I still don't like him. We have tried to kill each other too many times."  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome interrupted. "I wish you would try to work this out with him! He is trying to be civil around you!"  
"He's just so blasted arrogant! It gets on my nerves! I feel like he is looking down on me, like I'm trash under his feet."  
Daremo decided to defuse the situation before it escalated. He wasn't comfortable watching her use magic to subdue Lord Inuyasha. "It's time to camp for the evening. There is a clearing just ahead. We'll stop there."  
Inuyasha brightened. "Time for some of that ramen, Kagome."  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Inuyasha! There are other foods than ramen!"  
"But none as good!" insisted Inuyasha.  
Daremo was puzzled. "What is ray-men?" he asked. "I've never heard of it."  
"Something from Kagome's time. It is very good." explained Miroku.  
"Lady Kagome? Might I ask you something?" began Daremo. Kagome had a distant look on her face. "Lady Kagome? Lady Kagome?!"  
Kagome came back to herself with a start. "Oh! Sorry, Daremo! But there are two shards approaching us."  
"I knew it! That wimpy wolf doesn't take a hint well, does he?" Inuyasha exclaimed.  
"He's not so bad, Inuyasha! Besides, this will give me a chance to tell him that we are getting married!" Kagome said with excitement.  
"Kagome. That might not be a good idea." cautioned Sango.  
"He's my friend. He'll understand and be happy for me." assured Kagome.  
"I hope you are right." Sango said doubtfully.  
"Well, it might not be Kouga. The shards are moving slower than he usually runs."  
"I'm ready, whoever it is." snarled Inuyasha.  
"We should be seeing who it is soon. The shards are at the edge of the clearing."  
They all looked at the edge of the clearing. Forms could be seen through the trees. The forms resolved themselves into figures that they recognized. Kouga was in the lead, his wolves around him. Behind him was several members of his tribe. It looked like a hunting party.  
Kouga saw Kagome and smiled widely. He charged forward to scoop her up but Inuyasha stepped in his path. Kouga skidded to a stop. "Get out of my way, mutt. I'm taking my woman with me and you can't stop me!"  
"She's not your woman!" shouted Inuyasha.  
"She's not yours!" shouted Kouga.  
"Yes, she is. Tell him, Kagome!"  
"Kouga, please calm down! You, too, Inuyasha! Now, Kouga, I want to tell you something important. Inuyasha and I are getting married! Isn't it wonderful!" gushed Kagome.  
Kouga's face grew still. "You can't be serious! You are my woman! You can't be in love with this filthy half-breed!"  
"Kouga! I love him and I am marrying him! So, stop with the insults! Be happy for us!"  
"You heard her, wolf! She is marrying me! Deal with it!"  
"Over my dead body, mutt! I will take her with me this time and she will see that I am the demon for her not some half-demon!" So saying, Kouga reached for Kagome. Inuyasha knocked his arm away.  
"Keep your hands to yourself! You will have to kill me to take her with you!"  
"That can be arranged!"  
The rest of Kouga's pack had arrived and were standing around watching the spectacle, grinning. His wolves were sitting around with their tongues lolling out, waiting for orders and eyeing the horses. Daremo and his companions were standing next to the horses with hands on their swords. The situation was getting very tense.  
"Look, Kouga! There is no need for this! We can still be friends but only if you stop this nonsense and accept that I am marrying Inuyasha!"  
"NO!" screamed Kouga. "You are mine and I am taking you with me! I should have done this a long time ago! Inuyasha! This time I will kill you and she won't have anyone else but me!" This said, Kouga dived at Inuyasha! And his wolves took this as permission to attack and went after Daremo and the horses!  
  
A/N: This chapter is longer than I expected and actually kind of spills over into the next, but I got on a roll and couldn't find a place I felt comfortable stopping at. It's kind of strange because I'm not sure I like this chapter too much. But I had to have some filler, so I hope you don't hate it too much. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
A/N: I've been bouncing ideas around in that empty space I call a head, trying to come up with the best fight scene. I've setteled on this one and I hope it meets with your approval. As always, thanks for the reviews. And finally, I don't own Inuyasha but if I could find out something juicy about the owner, I might try blackmail!  
  
As Kouga dived at Inuyasha, the wolves in his pack took this as a sign that the hunt had begun! They had been eyeing the horses, hungrily, and with the pack leaders move, they attacked. They took off at a run, heading straight toward Daremo and the horses.  
Daremo saw the wolves coming at him and his companions. "Guard the horses!" he barked. "I'm going to meet them!" He took off at a run, straight at the approaching wolves!  
The lead wolf, a large alpha male, was puzzled by the actions of the human. He had never been attacked by a human! He had always done the attacking! He grinned a wolve's grin and went staight at Daremo, figuring on an easy kill. But, as he prepared to leap at Daremo's throat to rip it out, something happened. The man wasn't in front of him anymore! And he felt a sharp pain down his side! He let out a startled yelp of pain and turned to see what had hurt him, or, at least that is what he wanted to do. As the big male began his turn, he fell on heavily on his side. He tried to rise but couldn't. He whimpered slightly as his vision clouded and then went dark in death.  
As Daremo reached the wolves, he drew his katana and slashed the leader and three other wolves in the first pass. Two other wolves had fallen with the lead male. The third had been the farthest away and had only lost an ear. The death of their packmates got the attention of the rest of the wolves. They lost interest in the horses and decided to take down this lone human in their midst. They began to circle him, looking for an opening. This was what Daremo had wanted. Now he went to work in earnest. He would allow a wolf to bait him from the front and when one would attack from the rear to hamstring him, he would move with uncanny speed. His katana would flash in the light of the setting sun as he dispatched wolf after wolf in this fashion.  
The wolf demons had been watching the fight between Kouga and Inuyasha. But with the first yelp of the big male wolf that had died by Daremo's hand, they had watched that fight as well. They were angry that a human had killed three of their pack brothers but looked on in amusement as the rest of the pack began to circle the lone human. "This will be good!" exclaimed one of the demons. "Stupid human! Doesn't have enough sense to run from his betters! Now, our brothers will get revenge for their fallen!" The others laughed and watched with anticipation, waiting for the human to fall and be ripped to shreds. But this didn't happen. As the demons watched, this lone human was killing their wolves one at a time, with what looked like no effort. When the fourth wolf fell, the demon who had spoken earlier gripped his weapon and looked at the others. "I have had enough of this! It's time for me to kill a human!" Three other demons shouted their agreement and moved toward Daremo.  
The remaining wolves sensed the approach of the wolf demons and backed off. Daremo looked and saw the demons coming toward him. Surprisingly, he sheathed his katana and waited for the demons.   
  
Sango and Miroku were honoring their word to watch Inuyasha's back if he had to fight Kouga. Their attention was divided between the fight and the pack. They were paying no attention to Daremo until they heard the male wolf's death yelp. Sango turned to see Daremo surrounded by wolves. "Miroku!" she called. "We need to help .... " Her statement cut off as her jaw dropped. She watched as Daremo began to dispatch the wolves, one by one. She had never seen a human move that fast! Her amazement grew as the wolf demons approached Daremo and he sheathed his sword.  
"What is he thinking?" breathed Miroku. Sango had forgotten him in her fascination with Daremo's fighting style. "Surely, he doesn't think that they will leave him alone?"  
As they watched, the demons spread out to encircle their prey as had their four footed conterparts. Their weapons at the ready, they began their attack. Sango pulled her boomerang to help, but before she could let it go, she was amazed yet again. Daremo had drawn his katana with uncanny speed. His draw was a slice that sheared through the lead demon's weapon and on into the demon's side. The sword didn't stop. It continued across the demon's stomach to disembowel him. Still, the sword didn't stop. Daremo began an intricate set of moves that wove a web of quicksilver steel around him. The remaining demons screamed their rage and charged Daremo. With a speed almost too fast for the eye to follow, Daremo moved with the grace of a dancer. Lightly stepping to one side, he dodged the charge of one demon, bringing his katana down in an almost negligent gesture to decapitate his opponent with a backwards swing. He spun on his foot, letting the momentum off the sword swing him around to face another demon. His sword, never stopping, sheared through the spear that the demon was holding and removed his hand half way to the elbow. The demon fell on his back, screaming in pain now. He clutched at the stump of his arm and began to push himself away with his legs. Daremo's dance ended with him facing the last of the four demons that had come for him. He held his katana before him and regarded the last demon over his blade. Sango was too far away to hear what was said. All she could see was the grim smile on Daremo's face and the rage on the demon's, rage coupled with fear. She realized that this demon knew he was no match for Daremo but that he didn't know what to do! Every instinct in the demon had to be calling for blood for his slain packmates but he had enough intelligence to know that he couldn't avenge them! As Sango watched, Daremo's lips moved again and the demon began to back off. After a few steps, he turned and ran to his injured pack brother. He knelt beside him and began to tie off the bleeding stump. Daremo took a deep breath and released it in a long sigh. He then bent and picked up a srap of cloth from one of the dead demons bodies and wiped the blood from his katana. Then he sheathed it and turned toward Sango and Miroku. His eyes went past them to the fight between Inuyasha and Kouga. Suddenly his eyes widened and he swore an oath. He broke out into a run that was even faster than when he was fighting. As he rushed by them, they heard Kagome scream at Kouga. They turned to see a sight that horrified them. Kouga was standing over Inuyasha, blood streaming from a chest wound. He had his katana raised above his head and was preparing to bring it down on Inuyasha!  
  
A/N : I think that I'll end it here! heh heh heh Just to keep the interest going. Next chapter, Inuyasha's and Kouga's fight. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
A/N: Greetings and salutations. I'm still here, I've just been busy. Raising kids is not an easy task! And, I'm not even going into what it takes to keep my mate happy (this fic is read by younger readers!) Get ready for a flurry of activity, I'm feeling very creative. grins evilly I do so hope that you enjoy. Oh yes, almost forgot. I don't own Inuyasha or any of the other characters. Now, let us begin.  
  
Kouga dived at Inuyasha. Inuyasha had been expecting an attack since Kagome had announced their engagement to the jealous wolf demon. Instead of side stepping the attack, he grabbed Kouga's tunic by the shoulders and jerked down as he brought his knee up into Kouga's face. Kouga's head snapped back with enough force to tear the tunic from Inuyasha's hands. The stunned wolf demon landed on his back, blood streaming from his mouth and nose. Inuyasha did a high leap into the air, intent on finishing this fight quickly. However, as he brought his fist down, Kouga was able to recover enough to roll out of the way of the downward punch.  
'Damn it!' swore Inuyasha, in his mind. 'He recovered faster than I expected! Must be the jewel shards!'  
Kouga had rolled a few yards away and was crouched on one knee, breathing heavily. He brought a shaky hand to his face and wiped the blood from his mouth and nose. As he shook the blood from his hand, he looked at Inuyasha appraisingly. "Not bad, for a filthy half-breed!" taunted Kouga. He slowly stood, shaking his head to clear it. "But it still wasn't good enough! Now, I'll finish you and take my woman with me, along with your head!"  
"My head is staying where it is!" shouted the angry hanyou. "And so is Kagome! She is my mate and you can't have her!" As he shouted this last, he charged Kouga and used his favorite hand to hand technique, "Iron reaver, soul stealer!" Kouga had recovered enough to dodge the attack, but he wasn't able to dodge all the attack. Inuyasha's claws grazed his chest, bringing blood a second time.  
"What's wrong, Kouga? Moving a little slow, aren't you?" Now it was Inuyasha's turn to taunt.  
"I'm still faster than you!" countered Kouga as he launched a kick attack at Inuyasha's head.  
Inuyasha was able to get his arm up to block the hit to his head, but the force of the kick caused him to stagger a couple of steps to the side. 'I've got to end this fight before he fully recovers from that knee to the face!' thought the hanyou. 'Man! I hate not being able to use everything I have! I could kill him, but then Kagome would never forgive me! Maybe I can lure him in close enough to get my hands on him?'  
Inuyasha sneered at the wolf demon. "You call that a kick? Shippou kicks harder than that! Even a human could have blocked that kick!" 'Come on, take the bait!'  
"Oh, yeah! Well let's see you block this!" Kouga launched another kick attack.  
Which was what Inuyasha wanted. 'Gotcha, baka!' he crowed in his mind. Even though this kick was faster than the last, Inuyasha was able to grab Kouga's ankle when he blocked with his arm. Using Kouga's momentum against him, he ducked under the kick and brought Kouga down with all his strength, slamming the surprised wolf demon into the ground, stunning him a second time. This time inuyasha had a definite plan in mind. When Kouga hit the ground, Inuyasha leaped on him and picked him up in a bear hug. "Now listen, wolf!" he hissed in Kouga's ear. "I could kill you, and believe me, I want to! But Kagome would never forgive me if I slew one of her friends. So, just admit you have been beaten and I won't have to hurt you anymore!"  
"Never!" snarled Kouga. "I'm not going to be beaten by the likes of you!" And then he bit Inuyasha's arm.  
Inuyasha growled at the pain brought from the bite but didn't loosen his grip. 'It's going to take more than being bitten to let you go!' he thought. Then Inuyasha felt something strange from the bite area. It took him a second to place, but when he did, his face contorted into a look of disgust and revulsion! Kouga was sucking the blood from his arm!  
Inuyasha threw the wolf demon from him in revulsion. Kouga curled into a ball and spun in the air to land facing Inuyasha. He grinned, as he licked his lips. "Tasty!" he growled in the tongue of the canine youkai. He didn't want Kagome to understand what he was about to say. "You know, I am on a hunt. And now, I don't have to hunt for supper anymore! I never thought a filthy hanyou like you would taste that good, but I guess you have to be good for something! And this saves time, too. Now I can take my woman back to my cave and mate with her without having to go for food first!" He charged at Inuyasha.  
"Never!" shouted Inuyasha. His revulsion at Kouga's sucking of his blood and Kouga's statement of intent to eat him brought back memories of his childhood. The times he had been attacked by bigger demons that had wanted to eat him and the fear he felt flooded into his brain, over riding his resolve to not kill Kouga. He charged at Kouga and as he came with in range, he drew Tetsaiga, transforming the blade as it left the sheath. He brought the draw into an upwards slash that cut across Kouga's chest, throwing him backwards to land heavily on his back.  
As Inuyasha stalked toward Kouga, Kagome shouted at him. "Inuyasha, stop! You've proven your point! Let him go!"  
"Not this time, Kagome! You don't know what he did; what he said; what he plans to do! And this time, I'm stopping him once and for all!"  
"Inuyasha! SIT!" shouted Kagome. "Kouga, get out of here!"  
Kouga staggered to his feet. "Now why would I do that, my love? When you have handed me Inuyasha's head?"  
"Kouga?" whispered Kagome. "I'm giving you a chance to get away."  
"You stopped him from killing me and have made him helpless before me." stated Kouga, drawing his katana. "You obviously prefer me to him. I knew that you loved me, and after I take his head, we will go back to my cave and mate all night!"  
"Kouga! NO! Kouga!" Kagome screamed.  
"Don't worry, my love!" Kouga said, moving to stand over Inuyasha. "This won't take long." As he said this, he raised his katana over his head and prepared to strike.  
And this is what Daremo saw as he looked past Miroku and Sango. He raced by the two, putting all his speed into his run. 'I'm not going to make it!' he thought desperately. 'I've got to do something!' He pulled his short sword on the run and threw it at Kouga with all his might, hoping to at least distract the demon from completing his cut. He did better than he expected. The distance was too great for a specially aimed shot, but he did aim in the general direction of Kouga's upper body. He got lucky. Kouga was too intent on taking Inuyasha's head, he didn't see the short sword coming until it slammed into his shoulder. Kouga screamed in pain and frustration. Staggering off to one side after losing his grip on his katana, he pulled at the short sword embedded in his shoulder.  
During this reprieve, Daremo made it to Inuyasha's side. He knelt beside the fallen lord. "My Lord Inuyasha! Are you hurt?"  
The compulsion spell lost its effect at this time. Inuyasha lifted his head and growled, "No, Daremo. I'm not hurt." 'At least not physically.'  
Daremo moved to help Inuyasha to his feet but was waved off. "I'm fine, Daremo! Now, where is that damn wolf! It's time I finished this nonsense!"  
Inuyasha saw Kouga leaning heavily against a tree. He had managed to pull the sword from his shoulder and was breathing hard from the strain. "Let's end this, Kouga!" Inuyasha stepped toward the wounded wolf demon.  
Gripping the short sword he had pulled from his shoulder, Kouga stepped away from the tree. "You're right, half-breed! Now to kill you like I should have long ago!"  
Before they could reach each other, an arrow appeared in Kouga's thigh. Screaming in pain, he dropped the sword and clutched his thigh with both hands. He looked to see who had shot him and his mouth dropped open in shock. Inuyasha turned his head to see who had fired the arrow. His eyes widened when he saw that it was Kagome! She had another arrow drawn back and was aiming at Kouga.  
"Inuyasha." she said , quietly. "Go take Kouga's jewel shards. He doesn't deserve them anymore."  
Kouga reached for the dropped short sword but was stopped by an arrow at his fingertips. He looked up in shock at Kagome. She had already drawn another arrow and was aiming it at him.  
"Don't move, Kouga!" she commanded.  
"Kagome?!" he asked. "How could you do this to me? I love you!"  
Kagome regarded him with cold eyes as Inuyasha searched for and found the jewel shards in Kouga's legs. "Consider yourself lucky, Kouga. I could have powered up that arrow in your leg with miko energy. If I had, it would have blown off when I shot it! And as for why," her face became like stone and her eyes became even colder except for a single tear that ran down her face. "You tried to kill him! That, I can never forgive!" She turned to the two unwounded wolf demons from Kouga's pack. "Take him and go!"  
The two demons looked at each other and then at her. Both nodded and gathered up Kouga. As they left, one looked over his shoulder and said, "Goodbye, sister. I wish you could have stayed in our pack." That said, they joined the other two demons and disappeared into the forest.  
Inuyasha and the others watched until they were sure that the wolf demons were gone, then Kagome began sobbing and ran to Inuyasha. Throwing her arms around him, she tried to hug him, but it was like hugging a statue. Inuyasha made no move to take her in his arms. She stepped back from him and looked into his face. What she saw there caused her heart to sieze up inside of her. His face was blank, totally emotionless. He held out his hand and dropped Kouga's jewel shards in the dirt at Kagome's feet, then he turned on his heel and started walking toward Daremo.  
"Inuyasha?" Kagome called after him.  
He ignored her. "Daremo, do you still wish to deliver that letter to my brother?"  
"I do wish to." answered the warrior.  
"Inuyasha? Please answer me!" Kagome called again.  
"You saved my life. The least I can do in repayment is show you to Sesshomaru. Get your horse and lets get out of here."  
"What about the others?" asked Daremo.  
Without turning to face them, he called to his companions. "Miroku! Sango! Shippou! Kirara! I'll be back in a couple of days. Watch over Daremo's companions while we are gone. And watch over Kagome, as well." He began to walk off.  
"Inuyasha! PLEASE?! Give me a chance to talk to you!" Kagome begged, her voice thick with the tears she was shedding. "I know I scewed up bad. But I still love you!"  
Inuyasha's shoulders hunched as if he had been hit in the back. He didn't turn to face her, he didn't think he could handle that. "Kagome." he said, his head bowed and his voice thick with emotion. "I still love you, too." He lifted his head up. "But right now, I don't like you very much and I need to get away before I say or do something that you won't forgive." Inuyasha looked at a mounted Daremo. "You ready?"  
Daremo nodded.  
"Then lets get the hell out of here." And he began to run.  
"Inuyasha? Inuyasha? INUYASHA?" Kagome screamed in anguish. "Oh God! What have I done? What have I done?" She collapsed in tears in the middle of the clearing.  
  
A/N: Sooo... Are you ready to kill me yet? Just wait. The best is yet to come. It's still a couple of chapters away, but I promise you won't be disappointed. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
A/N: Hello, again! I want to thank all of you who have reviewed my story. While your reviews are not necessary, they are very welcome. (After all, I do have an ego to maintain!) To Inuyasha-loves-Kagome: It wasn't the sit, it was the timing! That and the fact that Inuyasha has made his feelings for Kagome clear, so he wanted no interference while he was fighting for her. Anyway, I have people who are impatient for another chapter, and I did say that I was feeling creative, so let's get on with it! By the way, I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
While Daremo questioned the wisdom of beginning the search for the demon lord Sesshomaru at dusk, he held his council. He could tell that Inuyasha was in no mood to have his decisions questioned. Daremo also thought that if he gave Inuuyasha some time, he might find out what that spectacle with the Lady Kagome was about. 'Thank the gods that there is a full moon tonight.' he thought. 'At least we can travel without running into anything!' Daremo ducked a tree limb that had appeared in the gloom. 'As long as I pay attention, that is!'  
They traveled on in silence, the only noise heard was that of the horse's hoofs and it's breathing. After about three hours of travel, clouds obscurred the moon. The darkness was total and Daremo could barely make out his horse's head and could only catch glimpses of Inuyasha's white hair. Reluctantly, he called out "Hold, my lord!" as he brought his mount to a halt.  
The young hanyou appeared out of the darkness to stand next to Daremo's panting horse. "What's the problem?" he demanded, testily. "I thought that you wanted to deliver that message to my brother."  
"Yes, my lord. But the moon has been covered by clouds and I can no longer follow you in safety. Besides, I must rest my horse soon or he could founder." He reached down and patted his tired horse on the neck.  
grrrr "Very well. But if the moon comes back out, we will resume our journey. I had just come upon a small clearing when you called me. You and your horse can rest there." He turned on his heel and marched off into the darkness, leaving Daremo to follow him.  
"Come on, boy. Just a little farther and I'll give you a rub down and some food and water." His horse bobbed his head and nickered softly. Daremo chuckled lightly. 'I don't care if the moon does come out. My horse needs rest and a few hours won't hurt.' With that thought, he kicked his mount lightly in the ribs with his heels to get him to follow Inuyasha. He soon entered the clearing that Inuyasha had described. He could make out Inuyasha's form in the center of the clearing. The hanyou appeared to be looking at the sky. As he swung down from his horse, he heard Inuyasha say, "Cold camp. I don't want to fool with putting out a fire when the clouds break."  
"Yes, my lord." replied Daremo as he began caring for his mount.  
sigh "How many times must I tell you.... Oh, just skip it."  
After Daremo was finished caring for his horse, he broke out some journey food. "My lord, would you care for something to eat?"  
"No." replied Inuyasha, a bit testily. "I'm not hungry."  
"I'll bet if it were ramen, he would eat it." Daremo muttered to his horse.  
"I probably would, but we left all the ramen with the others."  
Startled that Inuyasha had heard him, Daremo quickly apologized. "Forgive me, my lord! I meant no disrespect!"  
"Will you cut that out!? I'm not going to kill you for a breach of etiquite! I'm not as hung up on rules of behavior as some are."  
"I had noticed." commented Daremo drily. "But when dealing with an unknown noble, it is always better to ere on the side of caution. You keep your head longer that way."  
Inuyasha chuckled at that statement. "I've never been treated like a noble, so I don't think of myself as one. You're not a bad guy, Daremo. Just try to think of me as a fellow warrior."  
"Very well. Then I would like to ask something, as warrior to warrior."  
"Go ahead."  
"What happened during your fight with that demon? I was busy with the wolves and then with the other demons of that pack so I didn't see your battle with the wolf demon leader."  
Inuyasha stood silent for a moment. "Kagome interfered."  
"She interfered? What did she ... oh gods, she didn't!"  
The hanyou nodded. "I was about to kill Kouga when she sat me." he said flatly.  
"But why? She doesn't love that demon, does she?"  
"NO!" Inuyasha shouted. grrr "She just has this bad habit of seeing the good in everybody! She thinks of Kouga as her friend. If she knew what he did, what he said, she would change her mind about him real fast!" Daremo could hear the frustration in Inuyasha's voice.  
"Why didn't she hear him? She was within earshot of your battle."  
"He spoke in youkai so that she wouldn't understand him. He planned to eat me for supper and then force Kagome to be his mate!"  
"So he planned to rape her. If I had known that, I would have killed him, myself!"  
Inuyasha looked at Daremo in surprise.  
"I will not stand for the abuse of a woman while I can prevent it. I have killed men in my own command for attacking the women of a captured village after a battle is over."  
"That is ... rare."  
"It is what's right."  
Inuyasha nodded in agreement. "Anyway, Kagome sat me and told Kouga to get away. Instead, he decided that it would be the perfect oppurtunity to kill me since I couldn't fight back, the coward!"  
"And that is when I saw him and threw my short sword at him."  
"Yes. By the way, thanks for saving my life. I know I'm taking you to Sesshomaru as reward, but I still need to say it."  
"It is what warriors do for each other. Perhaps you will save my life, someday."  
Inuyasha was silent for a moment. "Well, you saw the rest. After it was done, I had to get out of there before I said or did something that I couldn't forgive myself for."  
"Forgive yourself?" asked Daremo "Don't you mean that the lady Kagome couldn't forgive you for?"  
"No. I don't think that there is anything that Kagome couldn't forgive me for, given time. That's just the way she is."  
"And are you still mad at her?"  
"Yes. But I love her so much that it will pass, eventually."  
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, Daremo stiffened. "Inuyasha!"  
Inuyasha was on his feet instantly, his hand to his weapon. "What is it, Daremo?"  
"I just had a thought! You took something from the wolf demon's legs?"  
"Yeah, his jewel shards. They made him faster."  
"And you did not kill him."  
"Yeah. Where is this going, Daremo?" Inuyasha was beginning to feel uneasy.  
"What is to prevent him from gathering his pack and coming after those shards, plus the other shards, and the lady Kagome?"  
"Oh gods! And I left her! Follow when day breaks, Daremo! I've got to get back!" Inuyasha took of at a dead run. 'Stay safe, Kagome! I'm coming!'  
  
A/N: Hi there. This idea just came to me. I thought that it could be interesting so I decided to write it in. Sesshomaru will be putting in an appearance soon and I will eventually get to Inuyasha's family, so be patient and enjoy the ride. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
A/N: Howdy, folks! It seems that I need to answer a reviewer. Dear PJ, I appreciate your reviews and I am glad that you like my story. I can tell that you are an avid Kagome fan. That's alright, I don't mind at all, and I welcome criticism. But, I feel that it is important that I point out a few things about Kagome. She is bright, funny, loyal, and trusting. She is also very stubbourn and oppinionated. She is capable of great insights and understanding concerning Inuyasha. She is also a teenager with the ability to win arguments with a single phrase, i.e. - "Sit, boy." I have a sixteen year old daughter, I would hate to see that power in her hands! shudders This is not to say that she is bad (Kagome), she is immature in some areas of her life. And yes, a person can be mature enough for love but not completely mature. Ask most women about their husbands and they will agree! Anyway, Kagome has been told that Kouga is not to be trusted, but that was discounted because it came from Inuyasha. I hope that you take no affense at this, none is intended. Just wanted to defend my point of view. One other thing. To Luna ML - I used the term 'baka' since it was used in the Inuyasha movies. My daughters have both on VHS in Japanese with subtitles. My eldest now agrees with me that that is the only way to watch foriegn films. Now, on to more pleasant stuff. Inuyasha doesn't belong to me, though I do have a beautiful malamute that has his ears.  
  
Kagome collapsed in the middle of the clearing, falling to her knees as the sobs shook her body. Sango and Miroku knelt on either side of her. Sango put both her arms around her best friend and pulled Kagome's head to her shoulder. Miroku placed a comforting hand on Kagome's shoulder. Sango glared at Miroku, silently warning him that his hand better stay on Kagome's shoulder!  
Miroku grimaced slightly at the glare. He wasn't that insensitive! He waited for Kagome's sobs to lessen before clearing his throat to speak. "Lady Kagome. We need to set up camp. It is almost full dark. Daremo's companions have already lit a fire. We need to go there and join them. The warmth will do you good and we can eat something."  
Kagome looked up with red eyes. "I'm not hungry." she said hoarsely. "I want Inuyasha! I have to talk to him."  
"He and Daremo have gone to find Sesshomaru." said Sango. "He said he would be back in a couple of days."  
"I need to talk to him now!" Kagome got to her feet. "I've got to find him!"  
"No, Lady Kagome. You must stay here." objected Miroku. "He told us to protect you and wait for him here. That is what we will do. Now, unless you intend to 'sit' me..." Kagome's reaction to this statement startled Miroku. She burst into a fresh round of sobbing.  
"Oh, God! He's never going to forgive me!" sobbed Kagome.  
"Kagome! What did I say!?" exclaimed a shocked Miroku. "Please, my lady, I am sorry for causing this! What did I do?" Miroku was distraught. He wasn't used to invoking tears from young women.  
"I .... I .... I didn't mean for Kouga to try and kill him! I ... I only wanted to give Kouga a chance to get away!"  
"Kagome? What did you do?" asked Sango in a low voice.  
"I sat Inuyasha!" she wailed.  
"WHAT?!" shouted Miroku and Sango.  
"Inuyasha was about to kill Kouga! I just wanted to stop him and give Kouga a chance to get away until Inuyasha calmed down!"  
"Kagome, Inuyasha is your declared mate. Kouga has expressed his desire to be your mate. When you told him that you had chosen Inuyasha, he did what demons always do when they desire the same female as another. They fight ... to the death." explained Sango, in some exasperation.  
"But ... but that's insane!"  
"And when you sided with Kouga in this fight ....sigh.... Inuyasha's instincts are telling him that you don't want to be his mate. That you had chosen Kouga."  
"But I didn't chose Kouga! I love Inuyasha!"  
"Inuyasha knows that you love him, but his instincts are overriding that. That is why he left. He was afraid to stay because he didn't know what his instincts would tell him to do." Miroku was in a quandary. He could sympathize with Kagome's desire to save life, but he also saw the folly of what she did. "Kagome, when Inuyasha returns, you will need to show him that you are his mate."  
"How?" Kagome looked at Miroku as if she were ready to do anything.  
"You will need to show him that he is your mate. You will have to submit to him." Replied Sango, when Miroku looked at her for help.  
"What do you mean 'submit'?"  
"There are certain acts and gestures that show that you are willing to put yourself in his power. His instincts will respond and his human side should be able to keep control. His demon instincts will be reassured that you have chosen him for your mate."  
"And if he doesn't keep control of his instincts?"  
"Then, he will probably take you to mate and mark you as his."  
Kagome's mouth opened in shock. "I don't know if I can do that."  
"If you love him, you may have to."  
Kagome bowed her head. When she looked back up, she had determination in her eyes. "All right, Sango. Tell me what I have to do."  
  
Kouga stormed around the pack's cave. "She can't do this to me! I am her mate! Not that stinking half-breed! She'll regret this! I'll make her pay! She will be mine, and now I'm not going to give her the honor of being my mate! She'll be my slave and all her friends will be dead!" He continued to rant along these lines for a few more minutes when one of his wolves came in. The wolf came up to him and whined for attention. "What do you want?" Kouga snarled. The wolf shrank back on his haunches and whined again. Kouga calmed down somewhat. "What do you have to report?" The wolf began to yip and moan at Kouga. As he reported what he had seen to his master, Kouga's smile got wider and more feral. "So, the mutt has left in a huff and taken that damn swordsman with him, huh? Good! Kagome is all but unprotected. Soon, I'll have her and my jewel shards back, plus the ones she has!"  
Ginta stepped forward. "Kouga, are you sure you want to do this?"  
Kouga looked at his brother for a moment before backhanding him into the wall. "I am pack leader!" he howled. "You will do as I say, when I say! Unless you want to challenge me for the leadership of the pack?!"  
Hakkaku ran to help his brother up. "No one questions that, Kouga!" To Ginta he hissed, "You know better than to question him when he is in one of these moods!"  
"I know, I know!" Ginta whispered back. "But, he plans on attacking sister Kagome and her companions. That monk and that demon exterminator aren't going to be pushovers!"  
"That's right, Ginta, they won't be!" stated Kouga. "Oh, don't look so surprised, Ginta. You never could whisper well." Kouga grinned again. "But I have a plan to get them out of the way that will make it easy for me to get what I want. Now, gather the pack. We attack at dawn!"  
  
At the first grey light of the false dawn, Daremo had his horse saddled and was preparing to ride when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He spun to face whatever was about to enter the clearing. He was very surprised when a young girl of about seven came running into the clearing. He was even more surprised when a two foot tall toad demon carrying a long staff came running into the clearing after her! The girl was being attacked! Quickly, he drew his katana and leaped to get between the youkai and his prey. "Get behind me, girl!" he shouted. "I'll protect you!"  
The little green demon came to a halt before Daremo. "Get out of my way, human!" he huffed. "That little imp pushed me into the pool and now she's going to get it!"  
"You will do nothing of the kind, Jaken." stated a cold voice from the edge of the clearing.  
Daremo turned to see a tall, arrogant looking youkai. His face was coldly indifferent to the scene before him.  
"B, b, b, but my lord! She pushed me into the pool!" wailed the short demon.  
"You needed a bath, Jaken." explained the little girl, with a giggle.  
"Punishing her is not your perogative." reprimanded this new demon. "Rin, come here."  
"Yes, milord!" said the little girl brightly. She started to move from behind Daremo when he put his hand in front of her.  
"Stay were you are girl." he ordered.  
This got a reaction from the cold youkai. His eyes narrowed in anger. "Do not trifle with me, human. Just because you have the scent of my brother around you will not protect you if you interfere with my ward again."  
'Ward?! Scent of his brother? Oh, no! Not again?!' "Are you Inuyasha's brother, the demon lord of the west, Sesshoumaru?" Daremo asked weakly, as if fearing the answer.  
"If you know my name, then you know that interfering with me is a sure road to your destruction."  
Daremo dropped to one knee. 'I've been doing this a lot lately.' he thought with some resignation. "Forgive me, my lord! I meant no disrespect! I was just wanting to protect this young girl."  
"She needs no protection. She is under my care." Sesshoumaru paused, "However, I respect your courage in facing me to protect a child unknown to you." Sesshoumaru's lips curled slightly, "Not your wisdom, however." Sesshoumaru's face went emotionless again. "Now, were is my brother? I smell his scent but it is hours old."  
"My lord, he returned to the side of his mate, fearing threat to her from the wolf demon, Kouga. I was about to break camp and follow."  
Sesshoumaru's eyebrow quirked up. "Mate, eh? I was wondering how long it would take that fool brother of mine to come to his senses. I assume that you refer to the miko, Kagome?"  
"Yes, my lord."  
Sesshoumaru appeared to be lost in thought for a moment. "Jaken. Take his horse. Rin, come with me." He turned to Daremo, "You have a name?"  
Startled by the order to take his horse, Daremo nodded. "Yes, my lord. Daremo."  
"Very well, Daremo. Come with me. I have faster transport than your horse. Jaken, you will follow with the human's horse."  
"But my lord, I don't know how to ride one of these things!" protested the toad demon, shrilly.  
"Then learn." He turned on his heel with Rin and Daremo in his wake.  
"My lord? Speed is of the escense."  
"Do not question me, human. My mount is much faster than yours and all of us can ride."  
"You'll like Ah-Uhn. He's nice." chimed in Rin.  
"Ah-Uhn?" Daremo asked. No sooner had he asked than a two headed dragon stepped from out of the woods.  
"Mount quickly." ordered Sesshoumaru. "If what you say is true, and there is a threat to the miko, I wish to be there."  
When the three were on the dragon's back, Sesshoumaru gave a command and their mount leaped into the sky, trailing the fast moving Inuyasha.  
  
A/N: Okay! That's enough for now! I'm sorry it is taking me so long, but this story is taking on a life of it's own and I'm not sure if I'm writting it or if it is writting me! Seriously, I just keep coming up with ideas. It's hard to keep them out, and some of them are very good (or so I think!) Anyway, please let me know what you think of my story so far. Oh, and I will listen to any suggestions you have. I may not use them, but I will listen. And if I use them, I will credit the person who suggests it. Thanks. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven  
  
A/N: Hi, guys! I hope that you are ready for the next installment in this little tale. sigh I have a dissenting review about my plan for a death fight between Kouga and Inuyasha. As the old saying goes, you can't please everyone. I appreciate the review, Pintura, and would like to say that I haven't seen these episodes that you referred to. Where I live, we only get up to the episode before Inuyasha going after his father's killer, somewhere in the seventies. Also, I have heard about Kikyo's death in episode 124, I believe. This throws off my resolution to the triangle that I had in my prequel to this story, 'The Pain of Being Alone'. Fortunately, since this is fanfiction, I am not obligated to keep with the true storyline of the series. Anyway, keep the reviews coming in, for or against, as I appreciate them all and try to use them to be a better writer. Now for the obligatory disclaimer, I don't own Inuyasha. The stage is set, let the show go on!  
  
Miroku awoke to the grey light of early dawn. As was his habit, he arose and began his day with a prayer. After his prayer, he looked around the camp at his companions. He smiled at Sango's sleeping form. How he wished that he was getting a closer view of her, but he had yet to figure a way to get near her without getting a headache! He turned his gaze to Kagome. His smile faded as he looked at her. She was hugging Shippou to her in her sleep and it was obvious that she had not slept well. He sighed. 'She'll be alright. Inuyasha is upset but he will be back. He loves her too much.' He looked back at Sango as she started to wake up. As much as he enjoyed watching her sleep, he enjoyed watching her morning strech even more! He watched her until she noticed him looking. He smiled, "Good morning, Lady Sango! I trust you rested well."  
"I rested well enough, houshi-sama." Miroku winced at the honorific. She usually used that when she was ... upset with him.  
He turned to see if Kagome was waking when the first arrow hit him high in the right shoulder. The second took him low on the left side and the third took him in the right thigh.  
"Miroku!" Sango screamed. 'Strange.' he thought, as he blacked out from the pain. 'She only calls me by name when I am in trouble.'  
Arrows had fallen on Sango as well, but her armour had turned them. She desperately wanted to see if Miroku was alive but she had more important things to worry about. Kouga's wolf demon pack had come out of the woods, running at the camp and howling like their four footed allies! "Kagome! Here they come!" she shouted, counting on her earlier scream to have awoken her companion. "Kirara!" she called to her fire cat. Kirara transformed at a run and Sango swung up on her as she came by with the ease of long practice. She spied the archers that had fired on her and Miroku and counterattacked. She took great satisfaction in seeing them taken out of the fight by Hiraikotsu. 'That's for Miroku!' She looked to see what Kagome was doing.  
Kagome had strung her bow and was shooting at the demons but only to wound, not kill. She put no purifying power behind them. Tears were streaming down her face for what Kouga was forcing her to do. She knew some of the wolves she was having to shoot to protect her friends, her family. Silently, she cursed Kouga for what he was forcing her to do. She had sent Shippou into hiding to protect him. 'I wish Inuyasha were here!' she thought, desperately. She was so busy with the attacking demons that she didn't notice the two wolves that had come up behind her. Suddenly, one jumped on her back, knocking her to the ground! The other wolf grabbed her bow in his jaws and wrenched it from her grasp! Both wolves then grabbed an end of the bow and ran off with it. Kagome got to her knees to find Kouga before her.  
  
Kouga's attack was going as planned. The only flaw was the demon exterminator. The archers were supposed to take her out at the beginning of the attack along with the monk and his cursed hand. The other two humans were standing back to back against his demons. They fought well, but it would only be a matter of time before his wolves pulled them down. It didn't matter, anyway. His objective was Kagome. He got around behind her with two of his wolves and sent them to disarm her. When they had accomplished that, it was time for him to face her himself. 'Now!' he thought. 'I'll show her how a true demon is.'  
  
"Well, well, well what have we here?" snarled Kouga, sarcastically. "There is no need for you to be on your knees, Kagome. You don't have to beg for my attention!"  
"Kouga, please! Stop your attack!" begged Kagome.  
Kouga laughed at her. "Now, why should I do that, when I am winning!" he gloated. He reached out and grabbed a handfull of her hair and pulled her to her feet. He put his other arm around her and pulled her to him, roughly. "Now, I have you and your jewel shards. With them, I will be stronger and faster than dog face again! But, I won't kill him right away. I want him to see that I have taken you away from him!" He leaned into Kagome to kiss her when he was hit from behind.  
A small bundle of red fur had landed on his back, screaming at him! "Let my mama go, you ... you bastard!" shouted Shippou. Then he bit him, sinking his fangs to the root into the back of Kouga's neck!  
"Argg!" screamed Kouga, in pain. He released Kagome and reached around behind him to dislodge the little kitsune. "When I get my hands on you!"  
"Kouga! Don't you dare hurt him! Leave him alone!" shouted Kagome and she launched herself at him!  
Kouga casually backhanded her to the ground. "Stay out of this!" he snarled. "Now I've got you!" Kouga exulted. He had managed to get a hand on the squirming kitsune on his back. He dug his claws into Shippou's leg causing Shippou to yelp in pain, releasing his hold on Kouga's neck! Kouga then threw the kitsune away from him and into a tree! Shippou crumpled to the ground and lay still.  
"Shippou!" Kagome screamed. She started to run to her adopted son's side, when she was stopped by Kouga grabbing her hair, again.  
"Now, where were we...." Kouga began, but he was cut off by a scream of pure rage.  
"KOUGA!" Inuyasha roared.  
  
Dawn was breaking, and Inuyasha was still a couple of miles from the camp. 'Come on, come on!' he thought to himself. 'Faster, you stupid hanyou!' he berated himself. When he had gotten closer to the camp, he heard sounds of fighting. 'NO! Don't let me to late!' he thought, fearing the worst. He broke into the clearing, just in time to see Kouga throw Shippou into the tree and then grab Kagome by the hair. Rage infused him. Tetsaiga was barely able to control the demon within him as he drew his father's fang. "KOUGA!" he roared, as he leaped forward.  
  
Kouga turned to the scream. He saw Inuyasha bearing down on him. 'Damn!' he thought, realizing he had no where to go. 'That filthy hanyou is going to win!' was the last thought that went threw his mind before Inuyasha's sword cut him down.  
Kagome, freed from Kouga's grasp, went to Shippou. She didn't hear the shouts of "Kouga's dead!" coming from the wolf demons or see them run from the field. All she saw was the body of the little kitsune in front of her. Sobbing, she gently turned him over to check for signs of life. He groaned softly as she did this. "He's alive!" she shouted. "Oh, Shippou! Why did you do that?" she asked, not really expecting an answer.  
"I couldn't let him hurt you." came the reply, barely a whisper. Shippou's eyes cracked open. "Mama, are you alright? I thought I heard papa- Inu? Did he take care of Kouga?"  
'His voice is so weak!' she thought. "I'm here, baby. I'm fine. And Inuysaha got rid of Kouga."  
"Good." Blood started to leak from his mouth. "Papa-Inu?"  
"I'm here, runt." Inuyasha said, his voice thick with emotion.  
"I tried to protect mama. I tried to be a full youkai."  
"You did good, son." said Inuyasha, calling him that for the first time. "I'm very proud of you."  
"Mama, he called me 'son'." Shippou's voice trailed off as he lost consciousness.  
"Shippou! SHIPPOU!" screamed Kagome.  
Inuyasha put his hands on Kagome's shoulders. "There's nothing we can do, Kagome." he said, quietly. He felt as if his heart were breaking for her pain and for his own. "He's going."  
She bowed her head over the little kitsune and wept.  
Inuyasha stood behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. His eyes scanning the woods. He couldn't bear to watch what was happening. After a moment he thought, 'Her shoulders are getting warm.' He looked down at Kagome. He drew in a sharp breath. She was glowing! And the glow was enveloping Shippou, too! "Kagome!?" he whispered.  
She turned her face to him. Her face was serene as she looked up at him. "He has your heart. He may not be your blood, but I could not let him die."  
"K, k, kikyo!?" he stammered.  
The once dead miko nodded her head. "I could not let your son die." she said again. "And Kagome was willing for me to come forth to heal him. I cannot heal him fully. He will be weak, but he will live." She smiled sadly. "I cannot stay, but tell her thank you and consider this a wedding present for the both of you."  
"Kikyo, I ... I don't know what to say to you, except thank you." Inuyasha paused. "My love." he finished, softly.  
Kikyo's spirit smiled through Kagome's lips. The glow surrounding Kagome began to fade. Before it disappeared completely, she said one final thing. "Forgive her, Inuyasha! Her heart is torn in two from what she did! Forgive her!" The voice faded into nothingness as Kagome's head sagged forward. Inuyasha leaned forward to brace her before she fell.  
"Kagome? Kagome! Are you allright?"  
She drew a deep, ragged breath. "Yeah." she said, slowly. "How is, Shippou?"  
In answer to the question, the little fox demon stirred. His eyes slowly opened, and he looked up at her, blinking. "Mama?" His voice was still weak, but it didn't hold the promise of death in it now. "What happened? I don't hurt as much, anymore."  
Kagome began to cry, softly this time. She gathered Shippou in to her chest. She smiled through her tears and said, "You're going to be fine, my little one, you're going to be just fine!" Still smiling, she looked up at Inuyasha.  
He knelt beside them and put his arms around them both, tears of his own joining hers. This moment wasn't to last, though.  
"Inuyasha!" he heard his name called. He looked up. Sango was waving at him frantically from the monk's side. When she had his attention, she pointed toward the forest. At the edge of the forest, the wolf demons could be seen massing for a charge. He snarled as he stood and drew Tetsaiga. "It's time to finish this! No one hurts my family and friends and gets away with it!" As he leaped to her side, she mounted Kirara. A nod passed between them, they knew what was at stake. One of Daremo's companions limped up to join them. He smiled grimly. "Care if I join this party?"  
Inuyasha smiled back, just as grim. "Sure! The more the merrier!" He looked at the wounded man. "Your friend?" he asked.  
"Dead."  
Inuyasha nodded. Glancing at Sango to check on her readiness, he barked a command. "Let's GO!" They began running toward the demons. The demons broke into a charge when they saw them coming. And this is what Daremo and Sesshomaru saw when they arrived on the scene.  
  
A/N: For those of you that thought I was going to kill Shippou and have Sesshomaru bring him back to life, HAHA, I fooled you. grins evilly Are we having fun yet!? I considered stopping it where Shippou was dying but thought that that would be too cruel. Well, I will soon be getting to Inuyasha's family, I promise. And there will be a whole new can of worms opened then. See ya'. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve  
  
A/N: All right, folks! I am going to try something. Recently, I read in an interview with one of my favorite authors that a serious author should try to write 4 pages a day, even if you trash them! So, I am going to try that out, which means that you get to reap the benifit! I don't know if I will make 4 pages a day, but I will be writing everyday! So, with out further ado, I don't own Inuyasha, but I will continue to write about him like an old gossip.  
  
"There they are!" shouted Daremo. He was a little anxious. He had found that he didn't care for travel by flying!  
"I can see that, mortal." replied Sesshomaru, coldly. 'It appears that my brother is about to kill that wolf pack. I had best intervene. The wolves might be useful to me.' With this thought, he brought Ah-Uhn down on the field between the charging combatants.  
Few things can stop a wolf pack in full charge. A dragon dropping out of the sky is one of them. The pack brought itself up short, some even falling over themselves to stop. On the opposite side, Inuyasha and his allies had stopped, as well.  
'Damn! What's he doing here?' thought the adrenaline charged hanyou. 'And why is he getting in the way?' "Sesshomaru!" he shouted, "What are you..." he stopped when he noticed Daremo dismount from Ah-Uhn on his side of the field. He shook his head in disbelief and gaped at the warrior as he sank to the ground with a loud groan. Rin had dismounted behind Daremo and was patting him on the back. "It's alright." Inuyasha heard her say. "After you have ridden Ah-Uhn a few more times, it won't bother you!" To this Daremo just groaned louder and actually turned white. Sesshomaru smirked slightly at the antics of his ward and the human as he dismissed Ah-Uhn to graze. The wolf demons were milling around, uncertainly, but still with every intention of continueing the attack.  
"Greetings, brother. I came across your vassel and brought him to you."  
"He's not my vassal! He's just a messenger from Lord Tanaka!"  
"As you wish." Sesshomaru turned to the wolf demon pack. "Wolves, attend me!"  
"Who are you to command us?" shouted one of the demons. "Get out of our way so that we can kill that filthy hanyou!"  
Sesshomaru drew himself up regally. "I am Sesshomaru. Demon Lord of the Western Land. You will obey me, or be brought to heel."  
"That means nothing!" shouted back the outspoken wolf demon. "We are free wolves who bow to no one! Least of all a tame inuyoukai!" Some of the pack snarled it's agreement, but some fell back. This was a demon lord, after all!  
Sesshomaru looked over the wolves slowly. Suddenly, his energy whip lashed out at the offending demon. The wolf barely had time to yelp before he was destroyed. Sesshomaru looked at the shocked faces of the rest of the pack. "I trust that no further demonstrations will be necessary. I would prefer you as my servants instead of my conquests."  
Ghinta stepped forward from the wolves. He dropped to one knee and spoke, "For the good of the pack, it seems we have no choice. We will swear fealty to you." Slowly, the other wolves dropped to a knee and grumbled their agreement. Ghinta rose from his position. "We are leaderless now. The hanyou has killed our pack leader. We will follow your commands."  
"Good. Since you seem to have some sense about you, I place you in command of your tribe. Return to your den. I will seek you out when I am in need of you. Just remember, I am your lord. I will protect you in return for your obediance, and I will punish you for any disobediance. Now, leave so that I may speak to my brother in peace." Sesshomaru turned to face Inuyasha. "And that is how you handle a mob, little brother."  
"Feh! I could have beaten them!" snorted Inuyasha.  
"True. But they are of better use to me alive." replied Sesshomaru.  
Neither saw the look on Ghinta's face as he turned away. It was mirrored by other wolves in the pack. 'We are your wolves, for now demon lord.' Ghinta thought. 'But it won't stay that way! Kouga, you will be avenged, my brother!' With that thought, the wolf pack broke into a ground eating lope and left the brothers behind them.  
Kagome was knealing beside Miroku, tending his wounds, while this was going on. She had laid the sleeping Shippou on the ground next to the injured monk while she examined the arrows. Sango came up to her, after Sesshomaru came in. "What can I do?" she asked.  
Kagome looked up at her. "We got lucky. None of these is immediately life threatening. We can remove the ones in the leg and in the side without too much trouble. We can push them through, cut the head off, and draw the shaft back through the wound. The one in the shoulder is against the bone. It will have to be cut out or else we can have Inuyasha pull it out. He's the only one here strong enough to do it quickly. We need to build a fire and heat some water to clean the wounds before we begin. I'll need to heat up a piece of metal to cauterize the wounds after we pull out the arrows. And remove your hand from my butt, Miroku." Kagome turned her head to glare at the wounded monk. He cracked an eye open at her.  
"Forgive me, Lady Kagome." he said with a faint smile. "But I couldn't resist!"  
Sango frowned at the monk. "If you weren't wounded, houshi-sama ..."  
They were interrupted by a little girl's scream.  
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha spun to face the scream, their hands going for their swords. They could see Rin running towards them, tears streaming down her face, screaming "Milord! It's him, milord! It's him!" Sesshomaru knelt and caught up the weeping child as she ran into him. He stood and looked around to see if anyone was attacking. Satisfied that it was safe, he turned his attention to the crying child on his arm. "Rin." he spoke softly, ignoring the look his brother was giving him. "I am here. You are safe. Who is it that scared you?" The crying child just buried her face in her lord's shoulder.  
"She came from over there." stated Daremo. He had come up to the brothers to see if he could help protect the little girl. He pointed in the direction of a body.  
Sesshomaru advanced on the body, Inuyasha at his back with Daremo. As he approached, Rin became more and more aggitated. "Rin, there is nothing to be afraid of. This demon is dead."  
Sesshomaru finally stood over the body. He looked at Inuyasha. "Who was this?"  
"Kouga. The leader of the wolf demons and the one who tried to take Kagome away from me!"  
"He's he's the one who killed the vill-villagers, where I liv-lived." sobbed Rin, her voice muffled against Sesshomaru's shoulder.  
Sesshomaru's eyes smouldered with rage for a moment. He then looked at Inuyasha. "It seems I owe you a debt, brother, along with your miko." This said, he turned back to the camp, taking Rin away from the sight of the demon who had killed her.  
  
A/N: I would write more, but I have some things I need to do. Until tomorrow. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen  
  
A/N: Morning all! Thank you for the kind reviews! To Gloria - In chapter 8, after Kagome sits Inuyasha, Kouga does make reference to her choosing him over Inuyasha. Those feelings vanished when she stuck an arrow in him. I should have been more clear there, sorry. Yo, PJ! You have given me more reviews than anyone else. Thanks! I am glad that you enjoy the story so much. Simply a Lady and Caliko have given me multiple reviews, as well. Thank you. I don't have time to thank all my reviewers individually, but I will tell you that I appreciate each of you! Keep them coming and if you have any questions, I will try to answer them. Now, to work .... I don't own Inuyasha. If I did, I'd go broke buying ramen! (Plus, my kids would fight him for it!)  
  
Kagome sat next to the fire. The day had gone by in a kind of blur. After the attack and the healing of Shippou, she had been busy treating Miroku's wounds. Getting the arrows out had been nasty business and the smell of burnt flesh where they had closed the wounds had nauseated her. Inuyasha had helped hold Miroku down during that part and even he had turned pale. But, then again, his nose was more sensitive than hers and it must have been really bad for him. She sighed and looked over at her hanyou. He was on the other side of the clearing with Sesshomaru and Daremo. It was very strange to see the brothers together without trying to kill each other! Shippou had recovered enough that he was talking with the little girl, Rin. Her outburst earlier had been unnerving, so soon after the ambush. It had become even worse, though, when she found out that Kouga had been responsible for her death. That he could have done that to her village upset her. She had always thought that his wolves had just attacked the village at random, not on his orders!Thinking of Rin caused her to think of Sesshomaru. He was showing depths that none of them thought he possessed. The idea that he cared for a human child, and that he could actually show tenderness towards her to soothe her fears, it was unreal. He had even gone so far as to offer to ressurect Daremo's companion that had been killed during the attack. Daremo had been shocked that the demon lord could do that, but he quickly accepted. Now, everything was .... smack ....back to normal, so to speak. She looked over at Miroku. He was laying on his back with a silly grin on his face and Sango was looking exasperated.  
"He never stops!" Sango muttered.  
"Ah, my beautiful Sango!" sighed Miroku. "You must be growing to like my attentions! That last slap wasn't nearly as hard as the others!"  
"Don't flatter yourself, houshi-sama! I didn't want to aggravate the injuries that Kagome spent so much time in healing!" The exterminator actually snarled at him. She knew that he hadn't seen her cry over his gagged screams while Inuyasha held him down for the hot irons. She didn't want him to suspect that she cared for him because she didn't know how to handle it yet. 'Argh! I'm as bad as Inuyasha and Kagome were! What am I so afraid of?' But she already knew the answer to that. Until the monk could show her that he cared for her and not her body, she wouldn't trust him with the knowledge of her feelings for him.  
Kagome smiled sadly. She had spent too many hours alone with Sango, talking about her feelings for the monk not to know what was going through her mind. 'I hope that you two find yourselves, soon. I want you to be as happy as Inuyasha and I are. Or were.' This last thought brought a tear to her eye. Since the healing of Shippou, Inuyasha had barely acknowleged her presence. True, he had helped with Miroku, but other than to ask for direction in what needed to be done, he hadn't spoken to her. She looked at him again, across the clearing. Her kettle of water that she had on the fire began to whistle and she saw his ears swivel in her direction. 'Now's my chance!' she thought. Quickly, she poured hot water over the instant ramen that she was preparing. 'They say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! At least I'll get him to see me!' She rose from her position and made her way to the gathered men.  
"Inuyasha? I brought you something to eat."  
Inuyasha accepted the food from her with a nod but didn't speak as he began slurping down his ramen.  
Sesshomaru looked on with curiousity mixed with mild disgust at his brothers table manners or lack there of. "What is that?" he asked. "I have never seen that type of food before."  
"It's called ramen." answered Kagome. "There is more next to the fire. I prepared enough for everyone."  
Daremo and his men grinned and started toward the fire. They had only had ramen a couple of times, but had come to like the pasta meal. Sesshomaru watched them leave for the other fire and called to Rin. "Rin. It is time to eat."  
"Yes, Milord." She turned to Shippou. "I'll bring you something to eat." she told the kitsune, and then she skipped to her lord and held his hand as they went to the fire.  
Kagome sat next to Inuyasha, waiting until he was done with his ramen. When he finished, she cleared her throat and spoke. "Inuyasha?"  
He flicked an ear in her direction but said nothing.  
"Inuyasha, let's go for a walk. I need to talk to you about what happened."  
"Feh." Inuyasha snorted. "Why?"  
"Please, Inuyasha." her eyes started to tear up.  
"Alright, alright! Just don't start crying on me, I hate it when you do that."  
Kagome smiled brightly. "Thank you, Inuyasha!" She stood up and pulled the reluctant hanyou to his feet. "Let's go!" She started into the woods with him in tow.  
Sango watched them leave. She smiled to herself. 'Maybe now, things can get back to the way they are supposed to be.'  
Kagome and Inuyasha walked in silence for several minutes. Kagome was working up the nerve to try what Sango had told her. Finally, she could stand the silence no longer. She stopped and turned to face the hanyou at her side. "Inuyasha, I have something to say to you. Please don't interupt until I am through." She looked at him, and then looked down, blushing, began to whine in the back of her throat. 'I can't believe I'm doing this! I feel so silly!'  
Since she was looking down, she couldn't see Inuyasha's reaction to what she was doing, but she could hear him. It sounded like he was struggling to contain himself. She blushed harder, thinking that he was trying to keep control of his instinct to mate with her. 'It's working!' she thought. 'Now I'll show him that he is my chosen mate!' She looked up to look into her beloved ones eyes only to find that he wasn't controlling his lust for her but his laughter! She gaped at him for a second before her surprise turned into anger! "What's so funny?" she demanded.  
Inuyasha could contain himself no more. He began laughing out loud until he was nearly gasping for breath.  
"What's so funny!?" she demanded,again. "I swear if you don't tell me..."  
Inuyasha held up his hand. "No, no." he gasped, still laughing. "Just tell me, what were you doing?"  
"I was showing you that I could be submissive to you so that you would know that I wanted you for my mate!" Kagome shouted. "I didn't expect you to laugh at me!"  
"So, that's what you were doing!" snickered the soon to be dead hanyou. "And who told you that THAT was the way to show submission?"  
"Sango did!" Kagome paused. "Oh, no! She got it wrong?"  
"Oh, no! She got the submission part right. It was just the wrong type of submission. You were whining like a pup submitting to an adult for discipline!" That said, he began laughing again.  
"It's not funny!" she shouted. She turned from him and began to storm away.  
"Wait, Kagome!" he reached out for her and pulled her into an embrace. He put his arms around her from behind and set his chin on the top of her head. "Thank you."  
"For what?" she asked, still agitated but becoming calmer.  
He chuckled. "For trying. I know that it couldn't be easy for you to try to submit to me."  
"I wanted to apologize .... for what happened." She leaned back into his embrace, relishing his warmth on her back.  
"Kagome. I love you and that will never change. I know that you were only trying to keep me from killing him but ... it hurt. I felt betrayed."  
"I would never betray you! You are my life."  
"My mind knew that. My heart knew that. But my pride..." Inuyasha sighed. "It's over now. Let's move on to better things."  
"Like what?" Kagome asked, turning her head to look into his eyes.  
He smiled. "Like how to be properly submissive to your mate."  
  
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you tomorrow. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen A/N: Hi, guys! It's another beautiful day at the asylum! (Try living with 2 teenage daughters and an 11 year old son and you come up with a better description!) And the inmates are in charge! For anyone who was curious, there will be no lemon. I know that the end of the last chapter was a great lead-in for one but I don't do lemons. I have considered a one shot, on the side, but I try to follow the philosophy not to write anything that I would be embarressed by if my kids were to read it (or my mother)! Anyway, thank you for the reviews! Keep them coming! I don't own Inuyasha or his friends. Now for todays installment.  
  
Inuyasha carried Kagome back into camp late in the evening. They had had a long conversation, among other things! They had managed to keep their promise to Kagome's mother, but it hadn't been easy. They had cuddled and petted for several hours before Kagome had finally fallen asleep in his arms. Inuyasha sighed and thought it would be better if they were in camp when the others awoke in the morning. At the very least it would keep Miroku from making remarks about their spending the night together! Inuyasha looked for Kagome's sleeping bag but found it occupied. Shippou was alseep in it and he wasn't alone. Apparently, Rin had taken a liking to the fox demon because she was cuddled up next to him in the sleeping bag! He smiled at the innocent picture of the two children sleeping with each other. 'Kagome would love this.' He considered waking her to show her, but decided to let her sleep. He looked up into a nearby tree and wanted to jump up into the branches to sleep but didn't. Again, he didn't want to wake Kagome, so he settled in against the trunk of a tree and relaxed. He shifted his haori until he had it around both himself and Kagome. She stirred in her sleep before snuggling into his chest with a contented sigh. He could feel her breath against his skin and could hear her heartbeat. These things lulled him into a light slumber.  
Sesshomaru watched his brother and the miko settle in against the tree. He had observed them entering the camp and had watched his brother with a kind of detached amusement. He shook his head in after he caught their scents on the night wind. 'Inuyasha, you are a fool.' He could smell their arousal on them. He could also smell that they had not mated. 'I would not have hesitated to take my mate.' This thought brought a brief stab of pain at an almost forgotten memory. He closed his eyes briefly. 'Forgive me, beloved, but I swore that I wouldn't think of you. It's the only way that I can survive.' He turned his eyes away from the young lovers before his memories returned to him in full force. He cast his eyes on his ward, sleeping with the fox. Usually, Rin slept at his side or on his chest, but she had asked to sleep with the miko's adopted son this evening. He allowed it, since it would please her, but he missed her presence. 'I had forgotten how much I hate sleeping alone.' Again his thoughts and memories began to betray him. Before his thoughts had gone to far into the past, the wind shifted and he smelled a familiar, if annoying scent. Suddenly, the silence of the night was shattered by the sound of a galloping horse and the hoarse scream of "Lord Sesshomaru! Help!" from a certain toad demon.  
The camp was awake in an instant. Inuyasha sprang to his feet, accidentally dumping Kagome on the ground, while he reached for Tetsaiga. Sango rolled out of her blankets, grabbing Hiraikotsu. Daremo pulled his katana as he came off the ground with a lunge. His comrades were right behind him. Miroku was trying to get to his spell scrolls. Kirara had transformed and was standing over the wounded monk. Shippou tried to get out of the sleeping bag only to get tangled up in it and in Rin. Rin was trying to get untangled from Shippou. Only Sesshomaru hadn't reacted. As Daremo's horse came into the clearing with the screaming Jaken on his back, Sesshomaru arose from his seated position with a long suffering sigh. 'Why do I keep this idiot around?' he mused.  
Daremo's horse made for the other horses and came to a sudden stop in front of them by planting his fore-hooves into the ground. Jaken went screaming over the animals head to land in a heap on the ground. He slowly rolled over with a loud groan. He sat up and shook his head and looked around at the group. "I hate horses!" he growsed and then noticed the looks that he was getting from Daremo, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou and Rin. "What are you looking at me for!? It was that stupid horses fault! He wouldn't listen to me!" This last word was squeaked out as everyone, except Miroku, suddenly lunged at the annoying little demon. "Aaahhhh!!" he screamed, as he took off. "Lord Sesshomaru! Help!"  
Sesshomaru glared at the toad as he watched him run from the others. Then he shook his head at the antics of his retainer. 'I have to admit, for someone with legs that short, Jaken can run quite fast!'  
  
A/N: On that note, I shall leave you. I know that this chapter is a little short, but I promise to make it up later. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen  
  
A/N: Hi, guys! I wasn't feeling well and was thinking about this chapter. I had a couple of different approaches in mind, I hope you like the one I chose. Thank you for the reviews! Don't be afraid to criticize, I need input ( as no. 5 would say). chuckles I know, I know. Obscure reference. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha or Sesshomaru. It's funny though, my middle daughter is a member of an Inuyasha fan club at her school. The members take on nicknames from the show and she is Lord Sesshomaru, so I guess I could claim that I am Sesshomaru's father. She should have been Ayame, since she is a red head, but Fluffy is her favorite character. Well, enough rambling, let's see what I will do to our favorite hanyou today. Vincent Price type chuckle! Attention: The following chapter may contain material that is unsuited for younger readers. There will be some mature themes here and a dark story line. I do not wish to offend anyone, but this idea has been haunting my thoughts for days. It is not pleasant.  
  
After a brief game of 'Kick the Jaken', everyone settled back into sleep. Everyone but Sesshomaru and Jaken. Jaken was watching his lord watch the hanyou and miko sleep in each others arms. Sesshomaru's face was an unreadable mask, but his eyes ... his eyes told a different story. Jaken had hoped not to see THAT look in his master's eyes ever again.  
"M, my lord?" he stammered, watching his lord's reactions.  
"What is it, Jaken?" Sesshomaru asked, not taking his eyes off of his brother and Kagome.  
Jaken took a deep breath and trembled. This next statement could be very dangerous for him. "My lord, it wasn't your fault." He cringed as Sesshomaru tensed.  
"Silence, Jaken." Sesshomaru continued to stare at Inuyasha and his miko mate. "I determine what was and what was not my fault."  
"She wouldn't want ...." Jaken got no farther before Sesshomaru spun and backhanded him.  
"I said 'Silence'!" the demon lord snarled.  
The toad demon lay still for a moment and then slowly stood back up. "Yes, my lord." he said with down cast eyes. "I shall go see to Ah-Uhn. Good night, my lord." That said, the toad shuffled off into the night.  
Sesshomaru had turned his gaze back to his brother and mate as he listened to Jaken leave. His face was the same stoic mask as always. Inside of him, turmoil raged.  
"That was unworthy of you." one of the voices in his head stated.  
"He overstepped his place." defended another voice.  
"True. But he spoke the truth."  
"Just because she wouldn't want me to blame myself does not alleviate my guilt."  
"YOU WERE NOT THERE WHEN SHE DIED!"  
"You prove my case. If I had been there, she would not have died at the hands of those filthy humans. She would not have suffered what they put her through."  
Unchained, the memories came back to him. He remembered the first time he saw her. She was a rare beauty. An inu youkai with hair as black as a moonless night. Black hair was a much prized rarity amoung the dog demon world. She was the only female who could shake his normally calm reserve. Around her, his poise was for nothing. He felt awkward and clumsy and yet, she had chosen him out of her many suitors. She had always told him that he had seemed so poised and confident when courting her, but he had never felt that way! They had been mates for ten years when they decided to begin their family. She soon became heavy with a pup growing inside her. Sesshomaru marveled at the miracle of the child growing within her, and it only served to make him love her more. He would have died for her and their child.  
"But you didn't, did you?" his inner voice taunted him. "You had to go on patrol. You had to live up to your responsibilities as a lord, didn't you?"  
"She told me to go!" his other voice answered. "She wanted me to do what I was born to do! To be the Demon Lord of the Western Lands! Her time to whelp was still a month away! She insisted that she would be fine and that I should be about my duties!"  
"But she wasn't fine when you returned, was she!" screamed the voice in his head.  
"NO!"  
"Look at what became of her!" The memory appeared in his minds eye. His beloved mate, lying in the ruins of her kimono. Bruises on her face, her sides, her legs. The dried tears on her cheeks below those lifeless eyes. The stench of burned flesh were the blessed ropes they had used to bind her had burned into her wrists, all the way to the bone. And, perhaps the worst, the lifeless body of their daughter, naked and still smelling of her birth, lying against her mother's side. He had found out later that his mate had gone into labor because of the brutal attack on her. When the pup was born, the leader of the attackers had strangled it.  
"Enough!" he roared in his mind. "I know that I failed her! On that day, my heart died. Nothing has been the same since!"  
"Yes, you failed her." the voice continued, remorselessly. "You even failed in your vengence."  
"I tracked and slew the humans who had done the deed." This memory brought cold satisfaction to his mind. The long, slow deaths of his mate's and daughter's killers was a collage in his mind. A flash of the first one, dying from the poison of his claws. He had watched the flesh melt from his body. The second dying while he flayed him. The third choking to death on his own manhood where Sesshomaru had ripped it from his body and shoved it in his throat.  
"You still failed! You never caught the leader!"  
"He was dead! The last human I killed told me that he had been killed by some villagers who had caught him in one of his crimes!"  
"But you did not get your vengence on him!"  
"ENOUGH!"  
Inuyasha's head jerked up and he looked at his brother. Sesshomaru had just shouted something.  
Sesshomaru realized that he had said the last aloud. Slowly, he stood. He took one more look at his brother and his brother's mate before turning his back to them and walking into the forest.  
'True. I didn't get my vengence on the man who planned the attack on my mate. But, someday, I shall meet him in hell. And on that day, you shall pay for what you did to my mate, Onigumo, you shall pay!"  
  
A/N: I almost trashed this chapter, but it does have relevance to the story, so I decided to keep it in. There were a few other things that I wanted to write in this chapter but I couldn't figure out how to put them in without affecting the flow of the writing. Again, I welcome all reviews. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen  
  
A/N: Interesting. I am glad that you liked the last chapter. There are more things to reveal about the death of Sesshomaru's mate later. Now, to answer some questions. I can't tell you everything because that would reveal too much, however, I will say that Rin is healing Sesshomaru's heart but not as a potential mate. Sesshomaru still has too many memories of the demoness that he loved and those will not be easy to overcome. However, he doesn't have any memories of the daughter he lost so Rin fills that void in his life. Will Inuyasha and his brother get closer? Eventually. It will take time to overcome the years of resentment and hatred that went on between the two. Kagome will help in the healing of those two. There is an impending explosion when Sesshomaru finds out about a certain hanyou, especially when he thinks about his own past interactions with him. That's enough. I may have said more than I should have, but I do like answering questions. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot one. Rin is about a year older in this fic than she is in the series. I don't own Inuyasha, I couldn't afford the ramen bill if I did!  
  
Sesshoumaru rejoined the camp at daybreak. He had spent the rest of the evening meditating to get his emotions back under lock and key.  
Inuyasha noticed that his brother appeared more stoic than usual, but let it slide. 'None of my business.' he thought. His feelings for his brother were hard to describe. He didn't trust him, but he didn't think that Sesshoumaru would do anything treacherous. He was too honorable for that. He didn't like him and he definately didn't love him! But, he did have a grudging respect for the demon lord's fighting ability. It hurt his pride to think that Sesshoumaru was stronger than him, but Inuyasha wasn't a complete fool. He knew that it would be a very near thing in a death duel between them. Indeed, they would probably do enough damage to kill each other! One thing puzzled Inuyasha though. Puzzled and irritated him. Since when did Sesshoumaru care about humans? Apparently he had adopted one, so he must care a little. And Rin irritated him. Not Rin herself, just the fact that Sesshoumaru cared for her and she was a human. Sesshoumaru had not cared for him at that age and he was his brother! He watched the little girl in question play with his adopted son. 'No. I don't dislike her.' he thought. 'I just wish that Sesshoumaru had shown me the same care that he shows her.'  
Kagome came up beside Inuyasha. "A penny for your thoughts." she offered.  
"Huh. What's a penny?" asked a confused Inuyasha.  
"Oh, sorry. It's a small coin from America, though I think it may have come from Great Britain before." Kagome stopped when she saw the glazed look in Inuyasha's eyes. "Oh, never mind! A yen for your thoughts, then."  
"Okay." agreed Inuyasha.  
Kagome waited. "Well?" she asked.  
"Well, what?" Inuyasha asked back.  
"Well, aren't you going to tell me what you were thinking about?" Kagome said, with some exasperation.  
"When you pay me the yen, I'll tell you what I was thinking."  
Kagome gaped at him. "I didn't mean that literally!"  
"Well, why did you offer then?"  
"It's a figure of speech! No one actually pays for your thoughts when they ask that. They just want to know what your thinking about!"  
"Then why not just ask what I'm thinking about instead of offering to pay me when you have no intention of paying?!"  
"Oooohhhh!! I give up! Just keep your thoughts to yourself then!" Kagome turned to storm away.  
Inuyasha sighed. "I think I'm jealous." he said quietly.  
Kagome stopped and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Jealous? Of who?"  
"Rin."  
Kagome turned back around to face Inuyasha. "Rin? Why on earth would you be jealous of a cute little girl like her? You don't like her?!"  
"No, no! Not that. I don't have anything against the kid." He looked over at the child in question. She had tackled Shippou, since she was bigger than him, and was tickling him unmercifully. "She keeps the runt occupied and out of our hair." He looked from the children to Sesshoumaru. "I just wonder what he sees in her that he didn't see in me."  
Kagome's face softened and she reached out to hug her mate. "I don't know, but I'm not sure that it would have been a good thing if he had taken care of you."  
"WHAT?!"  
"If he had, then I probably would never have met you."  
sigh "You have a point." Inuyasha's face hardened, slightly. "Besides, I didn't need him then, so I don't know why I'm worried about how he treats an orphan girl now."  
"Inuyasha! Give him a chance. He's older now. Maybe he's just trying to make up for some of the things he did earlier in his life."  
"Feh! I doubt it! Whatever his reasons, you can be sure that he won't be telling us!" Inuyasha looked into Kagome's eyes and grinned, suddenly. "So, when are you going to pay me?"  
"What!?"  
"Well, I told you what I was thinking, and now you owe me a yen."  
"Why, you....you!" Kagome sputtered.  
"But, I'll settle for a kiss!" He bent his head in quickly and claimed his payment.  
  
The days travel went well, if slow. Miroku was able to ride Kirara but Sango insisted on keeping it slow so as not to aggrevate the monks injuries. Inuyasha chaffed at the delay but said nothing after the looks he had recieved from both Sango and Kagome when he had started to complain earlier in the day. Surprisingly, Sesshoumaru had stayed with the group. Rin had begged him to let her stay with her new playmate and the stoic demon lord had finally agreed. When the group stopped for the mid-day meal, Daremo approached Inuyasha.  
"My lord." Daremo inclined his head to Inuyasha.  
'Here we go again!' "Daremo, I am not your lord!"  
"As you say, my ... Inuyasha." Daremo paused before continuing. "I would like to deliver the message from your cousin to your brother. Would you assist me?"  
grrr "All right, Daremo. But don't expect too much. My brother is arrogant at the best of times. He may not even acknowledge Genki since he is human."  
"I have to deliver this message. Whether the Lord Sesshoumaru honors the request contained will be up to him."  
Sesshoumaru looked up from his food as Inuyasha and Daremo approached. He stood up before the two reached him. "You require something?" he asked when they had halted before him.  
Inuyasha glanced at Daremo before speaking. "Daremo has a letter for you from the human Lord of the Western Lands."  
Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow as Daremo sank to one knee and bowed his head. He brought out the message and held it up to Sesshoumaru on his palms. "My Lord, I bring you greetings from my master, the Lord Tanaka."  
Sesshoumaru stood silent for a moment. "And why should I accept greetings from a human." "My master, the Lord Tanaka, explains himself in his letter. Would you please consider his petition that is contained within?"  
Sesshoumaru made no move to take the letter from Daremo's hands. After several minutes had passed he turned to Jaken, who was standing behind him. "Jaken. Retreave the letter and read it for me."  
"Yes, my lord! At once, my lord!" Jaken rushed over to the kneeling swordsman and snatched the letter from his hands. He broke the seal and began reading to himself.  
"Out loud, Jaken." the tall inu-youkai said with some impatience.  
"Oh, sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru! Out loud, of course, of course!" He cleared his throat. "Hhmm. Hhmmm. To the Demon Lord of the Western Lands, Sesshoumaru. Greetings. I request a meeting with you to discuss the pact made between your father, the former Lord, and my grandfather, the general Yamata. I await you at your earliest convienience. By my hand and seal, Lord Genki Tanaka."  
Sesshoumaru looked at Daremo when Jaken had finished. "Your lord presumes much." he stated, coldly. "However, I will consider his request, for the honor of my father."  
Suddenly, an extra voice piped up. "My lord Sesshoumaru, you were present at the agreement, as was I." It was the flea demon, Myoga. "You know that your father made it clear that you would continue to honor the pact in the event of his death."  
"You presume much, flea! I do not need you to remind me of my father's desires."  
Myoga blanched but for once held his ground. "I am only reminding you of your father's wishes."  
Sesshoumaru looked at the flea demon with hooded eyes. "Very well, Daremo. I will meet with your master. It seems that to do otherwise would dishonor my father."  
"Thank you, my lord. My master has much that he wishes to discuss with you."  
"Indeed. It had best be worth my time. I dislike being summoned by a mere human as if I were his equal."  
"Trust me, my lord. While I am not at liberty to divulge my master's reasons for this meeting, I can say that it will benifit you."  
"I doubt that, human." Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha. "I will be staying with your party for the time being. I trust that you will behave yourself."  
"What do you mean by that?!" retorted Inuyasha.  
"Watch your mouth around my ward. I do not wish her to learn some of the more unsavory terms that you know."  
"I'll say what I want, when I want, and you can't stop me from doing it!" shouted the indignant hanyou.  
"He may not be able to, but I can!" Inuyasha spun to see that Kagome had come up behind him. "I think that it is a wonderful idea for you to watch your mouth! And I will be more than happy to enforce it with the "s" word, if I have to." She crossed her arms and looked at her mate levelly. "Well, what's it going to be? Will you behave or will I have to do what I do?"  
Inuyasha glared at Kagome and then at Sesshoumaru, who was watching this interacton with an amused look in his eyes. "Aaarrrggghhhh!" he growled, and leapt straight up into the branches of the tree they were under. From the top of the tree, they heard an inarticulate scream of pure frustration. After a moment, Inuyasha dropped back to the ground and faced Kagome. "All right, I will not curse in front of Rin."  
"And Shippou." added Kagome.  
"What! That runt has heard me swear before! Dammit, wench ...."  
"Inuyasha, SIT!"  
"Aaahhh!" crash "What was that for?" Inuyasha spat through a mouth of dirt. "They aren't near here! They couldn't hear me!"  
"Practice." Kagome said sweetly. "And just to remind you of what you will get if you forget yourself in front of the children."  
Inuyasha peeled himself off the ground, growled, and stalked away.  
Daremo watched him go and shook his head before going back to join his comrades.  
Kagome started to follow Inuyasha then stopped and looked at Sesshoumaru. "I am glad that you are joining us, Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha will be going to reunite with his human family. Maybe he will be able to reunite with his demon one, too." This said, Kagome walked off, following Inuyasha.  
"I do not think so, little miko." said Sesshoumaru, too softly for her to hear. "But one never knows what the future brings." Sesshoumaru looked at the kitsune and girl playing tag together. "One never knows."  
  
A/N: Done with this one. My thanks to the reviewers. By the way, before anyone says anything, I don't know if they had yen in Inuyasha's time, but he has been to Kagome's time so I made an assumption. See you later. 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen  
  
A/N: Hi. Sorry to be so long but I have had a killer sinus headache. It's hard to concentrate on anything when it feels like your eyes want to pop out of your head! Thanks for the reviews. Now for a little filler chapter. I'll try not to bore you. Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Claim: I do own this story, so Inuyasha can dance to MY tune.  
  
The next few days travel were relatively uneventful. Unless you were Jaken. Rin and Shippou had become inseperable and had found a mutual interest, pranks. And their favorite target was Jaken. It was hard to figure who was the cleverest of the two, both were highly inventive, and they seemed to have made a contest out of who could pull the better prank. Shippou had a slight advantage with his kitsune magic abilities but Rin was showing that she had a few tricks up her sleeve, as well. They had pulled everything from stealing the staff of skulls and buring it in horse dung (Rin's idea) to causing mushrooms to sprout on Jaken's head (Shippou's magic)! The two currently had their heads together and were whispering to each other and casting significant looks at Jaken. Poor Jaken was getting very paranoid.  
"Lord Sesshomaru! Tell Rin to stop playing tricks on your humble servant!"  
"Jaken, part of your duties is to see to Rin's amusement."  
"But, but, but does she have to amuse herself at my expense!"  
Sesshomaru cast a significant look at Jaken, himself. "I care not how you amuse her, or how she amuses herself with you. It is my wish that she be amused."  
Jaken took on a deflated look. "Yes, my lord!" he groaned, almost in tears. Suddenly, he was bopped in the back of the head with a rock. He spun around to see a nightmare come true. There were two Rin's smiling at him! Jaken's mouth dropped open in shock.  
The two looked at each other and winked. Simultaniuosly, they spoke. "Come on, Jaken! Let's play!"  
Jaken's mouth began to move, silently. Then he let out a long scream and took to his heels. The two Rin's chased after him, laughing. Sesshomaru noticed that one of the Rin's had a tail. He shook his head. 'I do not know how I am going to seperate those two. They have become very close and Rin will be very sad to leave him.' He turned his eyes to his brother and Kagome. 'And the fox will never leave them. Fortunately, it is not a question that I have to decide now.'  
Inuyasha and Kagome were playing 'Go'. Kagome was a competant player and had beaten Inuyasha the first time they played. However, the more Inuyasha played, the better he got. Long forgotten strategies from his grandfather began to resurface in his mind. He had little trouble beating Kagome now, but he didn't flaunt this. He kept the games close so that Kagome wouldn't get mad at him! Miroku had recovered enough that he was watching with interest.  
"You are getting better at this game, Inuyasha." he commented. "However, I don't believe that you could beat me."  
"Is that a challenge?" asked Inuyasha, without turning his head from the game board.  
"It could be, if given proper incentive."  
"What do you have in mind, monk?"  
"Oh, I don't know. A kiss from Lady Kagome, perhaps?"  
Inuyasha turned his head slowly, a low growl in his throat.  
Kagome blushed and quickly interceded. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Miroku."  
A voice behind Miroku spoke, coldly. "I know it wouldn't!" Miroku looked behind him to see Sango fuming.  
"Well, it was just an idea."  
Inuyasha cocked his head to one side and grinned, nastily. "How about this? At the next village, you pay for my meal."  
"You are assuming that you will win, Inuyasha. And if I win?"  
"If you win, I'll buy whatever you want."  
Miroku looked amused. "And what are you going to buy, Inuyasha. You have no money."  
Inuyasha reached into his hakama and pulled out a yellow lump. He tossed it to Miroku. "Catch, monk. This should buy whatever I want."  
Miroku's breath caught in his throat as he examined the lump of metal in his hand. It was pure gold! "Inuyasha! Where did you get this?"  
"Doesn't matter. You still want to play?"  
"Yes, of course."  
"Then let's begin. You don't mind, do you Kagome."  
"It's alright, Inuyasha." Kagome said ,as she cleared her men from the gameboard. After she was done, she walked around the board to stand behind Inuyasha. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck!" she whispered.  
Miroku sat down across from Inuyasha. "Lady Sango, would you do me the honor of a kiss for luck, as well?"  
Sango smiled sweetly at the monk and leaned over to place her face near his. "Not on your life!" she whispered to him.  
Inuyasha barked a laugh at the monk. "Let's get on with this. I let you have first move."  
Miroku's eyebrow went up. "My thanks, Inuyasha. Let us begin."  
No more words were passed between the opponents for a while, as each concentrated on his next move. Miroku was proving to be the better player. He had captured over two thirds of the board, but strangly, Inuyasha did not seem too upset. He would occasionally growl when Miroku captured some of his pieces, but otherwise, was very quiet and intent on the game.  
Miroku looked up from the board. "Inuyasha?" The hanyou looked up at him. "It is obvious that I am winning. Why not concede defeat and save yourself the embaressment of a loss?"  
Inuyasha looked irritated. "Games not over yet, bouzo."  
"Very well, Inuyasha." Miroku made another move. "And how do you plan to answer that move?"  
Inuyasha suddenly grinned at Miroku, a very predatory grin. "Like this!" he stated, making his move. Miroku's eyes widened as they saw the elaborate trap that Inuyasha had set. With one move, Inuyasha had recaptured almost a third of his lost space, bringing him almost even with the monk!  
"Well played!" said Daremo, who had come up during the game.  
"Indeed." said a rather sour Miroku, as he placed his next piece. "However, I am still in the lead."  
Inuyasha smiled at his friend. "Yes, you are." he agreed. "But not for long!" He placed his next piece and sprang his other trap. He captured enough space to put himself in the lead!  
Miroku was nonplussed. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Inuyasha had been playing with him all along. "You set me up." he declared.  
"Well, maybe a little bit." admitted the smug hanyou. "I wasn't sure how good a player you were until we started. After a little while though, I knew that I could take you and decided to see if I remembered my strategy lessons correctly. It seems that I did."  
"Yes, it does."  
"You haven't been playing that well against me." A voice declared, at Inuyasha's elbow.  
Inuyasha lost the smug grin he had on his face. "Uh, Kagome?" he began.  
"Sit, boy!" crash "Next time, don't throw a game to me! And since you seem to have money now, you can make this up to me by taking me shopping!" Kagome picked up the lump of gold and turned on her heel to walk away from the gameboard.  
groan "Maybe I should have let you win, monk!" Inuyasha said as he pulled himself into a sitting position.  
Miroku chuckled.  
  
A/N: Not a very good chapter, but I needed a filler until they get to the manor. I have played 'Go' a few times, and while I am not too keen on the stratagies involved, I have seen between a third and half my pieces get taken in a single move, so I know it is possible. See you later! 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen  
  
A/N: By the way, a side note to 'Simply a Lady'. You have got to be one of the most prolific writters I have read! Your stories are all very good, but how in the world can you update 5 of them in one day! I have enough trouble keeping up with this one! Anyway, keep up the good work! Now for my disclaimer; I don't own Inuyasha. And with that out of the way, let's get on with this chapter.  
  
At breakfast, Daremo made an announcement. "My friends, today we will be entering into Lord Tanaka's lands. We should be reaching the lord's manor tomorrow morning. I have taken the liberty of making arrangements at an inn for the evening that is near my lord's estate. That way the ladies," he paused and nodded in the direction of Kagome and Sango, "and the men can refresh themselves and make themselves presentable to my lord."  
"Great! That will give me a chance to go shopping! Won't it, Inuyasha?" Kagome looked at her hanyou with a raised eyebrow.  
"Feh!"  
Kagome ignored that and looked a Sango. "You can come with me and help me find a gift suitable for a lady like the Lady Mariko."  
Inuyasha brightened at that remark. "You're going shopping to buy a gift for my aunt?"  
"Well, of course." said Kagome turning to face Sango as they began to discuss what to get the elderly lady.  
Inuyasha stepped behind her and gathered her into a gentle hug from behind. He slipped his arms around her waist and breathed "Thank you." into her ear before kissing her on the cheek and then releasing her.  
Kagome smiled fondly at Inuyasha. "It is my pleasure to respect your aunt, Inuyasha."  
Sesshomaru had been silent while this had gone on. Finally, he spoke. "I have no use for a human inn."  
"But my Lord Sesshoumaru, it will give you a chance to bath and relax before meeting with the Lord Tanaka." protested Daremo.  
"I am a demon lord. I will not stay at a common inn."  
"Ah!" said Daremo, pleased that he could provide a suitable rebuttal to this. "My lord, this is no ordinary inn! All the lord's who come on business with my lord stay at this inn. It is run by servants of my lord and is more like an extension of his home than a true inn. You are actually staying in a detached portion of his manor."  
"That may be well for human lord's but, as I said, I am a demon."  
"My lord, you should know that other demon lord's who have had business with my lord have stayed at this inn. They were most impressed with it."  
"'Other demon lord's'" stated Sesshomaru. "Daremo, your master begins to intrigue me." He paused, deep in thought. "Very well. I shall stay at this inn. But be warned, I expect to be treated with the respect that my station is due."  
"You shall not be disappointed, my lord."   
  
"Master Daremo!" shouted the innkeeper in welcome. "It is good to see you again! All the preparations that you wished for have been made." He turned to the rest of the party. "My lords and ladies, please be welcome in this house. In anticipation of your arrival, bathes have been prepared for all of you. After which, a banquet has been prepared for you in the dining hall. My servants will show you to your rooms and then to the bathes." He clapped his hands and several women appeared from the doors at the sides of the room.  
Miroku brightened as two of the younger women bowed to him and informed him that they were to see to his comfort. He smiled at the two and was about to speak when he noticed a certain exterminator glaring at him. His smile faded slightly and he sighed. 'Very well, Sango. I shall endevour to behave.' "My beautiful guides, if you would be so kind as to show me to my room and then my bath. I will require nothing more than that for my comfort." Was it his imagination or did one of the girls look disappointed with that statement?  
An older woman came to take charge of the children. "I am to see to the young ones."she stated. She quickly took charge of Rin and Shippou. "If you two behave yourselves during you bath, I shall give you a honey treat." she promised as she smiled at them. As they turned to leave, she spotted Jaken. "Oh, my! I almost missed one. Come with me, young man! It is time for your bath!"  
"But I'm not a child!" protested Jaken.  
Rin and Shippou grinned at each other. "Oh, Jaken!" exclaimed Rin. "You know that you are younger than me! Now do what the nice lady says or else Lord Sesshoumaru might get angry!"  
"But, but, but," the little toad demon stammered as the older woman corraled him with the others.  
"It's alright, young one. Your not the first child to pretend he is older to get out of a bath. Now behave yourself and I will give you a honey treat, too."  
"You will?!" Jaken brightened. 'This might not be so bad after all.' "Alright, let's go take a bath. Where is my tub?"  
"Silly boy! Children bath together!"  
"Lord Sesshoumaru!" was all he got out before he was herded into the back.  
The lord in question was staring at his assigned servants, impassively. In deference to his status, he had been assigned the four most beautiful servants in the house. They had bowed before him and were now awaiting his instructions. Finally, he spoke. "Take me to my room. Afterwards, you may attend to me in my bath." 'It seems that Daremo may have spoken truthfully about this inn. They do not fear me, so they have dealt with demons before.' He followed his guides.  
Inuyasha was not fairing as well. He had no desire to be waited on hand and foot so he was his normal rude self from the beginning. When the girls came to him, he didn't give them time to bow before he started. "Just show me to my room. I don't need anything else."  
"But we have drawn you a bath, my lord." protested one of the young women.  
"Then I'll find it on my own."  
"But you need someone to scrub your back for you and give you towels...." said another of the women, with a gleam in her eyes.  
"No, I don't! Now just show me to my damn room!"  
Kagome heard this last since it was shouted. "Inuyasha!" she said, sharply.  
"What?" he said in exasperation.  
"Leave those poor girls alone. They are just doing what they have been told to do. Let them serve you."  
grrr "Alright, alright. Come on then, show me to my room and bath. But you are not going to scrub my back."  
'What!?' Kagome wasn't sure she had heard that last right.  
"Yes, my lord." said one of the servants who was following behind Inuyasha. Kagome didn't like the way that she was looking at her hanyou!  
"Excuse me, Sango!" Kagome took off after the woman who had apparently offered to scrub Inuyasha's back.  
  
A/N: Well, that's enough for now. I'll get back to this later. Have a great day! 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen  
  
A/N: Greetings! A quick announcement: InuGirlTeen has asked that I mention her new web site in my author's notes. So, here it is.  
http:w w w. f r e e w e b s. c o m / i n u y a s h a a d v e t u r e s / I n d e x . h t m Just take the spaces out of this address and you will go to a new fanfic and information site. It looks promising, so be kind. Thanks for the reviews! I wish that I could thank all of you by name but that would take up too much time. I hope that my story continues to amuse and entertain you. And now, it is time to get on with the amuseing and entertaining. I don't own Inuyasha or his friends.  
  
As Kagome stepped away from Sango to follow Inuyasha and the impudent maid who followed him, she found her way blocked by two of the servants. "My lady!" they chorused. "Please wait! We are to escort you to your room and to your bath before dinner!"  
"Excuse me, please! I need to catch up to Inuyasha!" Kagome craned her head to look for him over their shoulders. She caught a glimpse of him just as he passed through a doorway and that was all. She pushed her way past the two protesting girls and made her way to the doorway she had seen him disappear into. But when she got there, she only saw an empty hallway. A low growl of frustration escaped her lips. 'How could they disappear so fast?!' she thought. Before she could set foot in the hallway to continue her search, they two servant girls appeared before her again.  
"Please, Lady Kagome! We must show you to your room!" the two said, in unison.  
"I need to find Inuyasha! Why don't you take me to his room?"  
"Lady Kagome! That wouldn't be proper! Besides which, we do not know what room he has been given!" again, in unison.  
Kagome stared down the hall in frustration. Then, an odd thought came to her. She turned and looked at the serving girls. "How do you know my name? I didn't tell you and I wasn't introduced."  
The girls giggled and answered at the same time. "Master Daremo sent word ahead that you were arriving and he told us of the two ladies that he had in company with him! Now please let us take you to your room and bath!"  
Kagome looked down the hall again. 'This is just great! Unless I start banging on doors or shouting Inuyasha's name up and down the hall, I'll never find him!' sigh "Alright! Take me to my room." she said with resignation. "I just wanted to make sure that Inuyasha was alright."  
"Very good, my lady!" they chimed in together. Kagome looked at them sharply. That was beginning to freak her out! They giggled again, "Besides, Riochi will take good care of him!"  
"What do you mean?" Kagome's voice was low and not very friendly.  
"He is very handsome and related to the Lord Tanaka. Riochi is very ambitious!"  
"She had better keep her hands off of him! He is my mate!"  
"Oh, she would never dream of marrying him! He is a hanyou, after all, but she would definately become a concubine!" The two giggled again. "She has had a lot of experience. We are sure that Inuyasha will be in good hands!"  
Kagome did something then that she had never done before. She reached out and grabbed both girls by their collars and slammed them into the nearest wall. "Take! Me! To! Him!" Each word punctuated by a shove back into the wall.  
The frightened girls began crying. "My lady, please! We really don't know where he is!" They both began to sob.  
Kagome released them, appalled at what she had done. Then her expression hardened, "You may not know where he is, but the innkeeper is sure to know. Take me to him!"  
"At once, my lady!" they squeaked out and then hurried off.  
Kagome hurried after them. 'That woman had better keep her hands off my man!' she thought, darkly.   
  
Inuyasha stalked after his guide. She soon stopped before a door and gestured for him to enter before her. After he entered, she and the other two girls followed him. "I hope that the room is to your liking, my lord."  
"Feh!" Inuyasha glared at the room. "I've stayed in worse." he stated, crossly. Actually, he had never stayed in anything as nice as this room but he just didn't like rooms. He prefered the open sky with its stars and fresh air. He shook himself slightly and glared at the three girls. "Alright! You've shown me to my room, now leave!"  
"But we need to show you to your bath." This came from the girl who had offered to scub his back. Something about this girl raised his hackles but Kagome had ordered him to be nice.  
groan "Very well! Show me to my bath then leave me alone!"  
The woman smiled. "My lord, one of the features of this room is that the bath is attached to it."  
"Huh!" Inuyasha was impressed in spite of himself. The idea of a bath room attached to ones bedroom was something that Kagome might have taken for granted, but it was a revolutionary idea for this time period. 'This will make Kagome feel at home.' "Are all the rooms furnished like this one?"  
"Yes, my lord!" chimed in the girl who had escourted hm to his room. "All the rooms have an attached bath."  
"Good. My friends will enjoy that. I didn't want to think that I was getting something that they weren't." He turned to face the girls. "Now you may leave, I don't need help bathing!"  
"But, my lord!" protested the girl that made him uncomfortable.  
"Leave!" he repeated, firmly.  
The girl sighed. She seemed to put a lot into that sigh. sigh "Yes, my lord. I will return with your towels." 'Alone.' she thought.  
The three girls left the room. After the door closed behind them, they began whispering among themselves. "He's so handsome." said the girl who had offered to bring back towels.  
"Riochi! Don't even think about it! I hear he has a betrothed!"  
"That doesn't bother me! And it doesn't bother most of the men I've known either!" she stated, with a laugh.  
"But, he's a hanyou!" said the girl who had been silent.  
"So, he's a hanyou! I'm not trying to marry him! I just want to please him and maybe get a kept status from a relative of the Lord Tanaka! Besides, his being a hanyou could prove interesting. I've heard things about demons as lovers and I want to see if they are true!" This said, Riochi flounced off for the towels.  
"I don't think this is going to end well." said the one girl to the other.  
The other girl took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. "I don't think it will either, but that's Riochi's problem. Maybe she'll get what she deserves, this time."  
The first girl giggled. "I certainly hope so! Now, let's get to the kitchen for dinner!"   
  
Inuyasha opened the door to his bath. He nodded in satifaction as he took in the large tub filled with steaming water. His friends may believe that he didn't like baths but that was far from the case. He just preferred to bathe in complete solitude. A hot bath was one of the only times that he relaxed completely. However, because he relaxed so much, he tuned his reflexes to a higher sensitivity than usual. It sounded strange, but he actually was faster to react when he was soaking in a tub or a hot spring than at almost any other time. He closed the door behind him and circled the tub trailing his hand in the water to test the temperature. He nodded to himself in satisfaction and began to disrobe. When he was fully naked, he started to climb into the tub when he stopped and turned his head to look at the door. He thought he heard a noise but when it didn't repeat itself, he just shook his head, thinking that he had been hearing things. Little did he know that he had definately not been hearing things.  
On the other side of the door to the bath, Riochi was peeking through a crack in the wall. She had gasped when she had seen the nude hanyou. He was beyond handsome! She had never seen a leaner, more beautifully built body. And, she actually blushed, what she had heard about demons was apparently true. 'This is going to be better than I thought.' she thought, dreamily. 'He is sooo good looking, and he is about to be mine!' She bent to look through the crack again and watched Inuyasha begin to relax in the tub. Now was her chance! She picked up the stack of towels that she had set on the floor next to her and brazenly pushed open the door to the bath. "I brought you your towels, my lord!" she called out.  
Inuyasha's reflexes kicked in and he stood quickly, about to reach for a weapon that he didn't have on when he realized who it was. He looked at the widened eyes of the servant girl and hurriedly sat back down into the water. 'Oh, great!' he thought. 'When Kagome finds out about this, she'll sit me for a week!' "Don't you know how to knock? Just leave the towels over there and leave!" He closed his eyes and leaned his head back.  
"My lord?" called a voice softly.  
Inuyasha looked at the girl crossly. "What do you want, wench?"  
She smiled at him seductively and shrugged her shoulders out of her kimono. "Are you sure that you don't want me to scrub your back?" she asked as the kimono hit the floor.  
Inuyasha's mouth dropped open and he stared at the girl for a moment. When he finally found his voice, he spoke with passion.....the passion of anger. "Get out!" he shouted.  
Riochi looked at him, her smile fading. "Oh, come on! No one will know! Let me please you! I am very good at that sort of thing. Probably much better than your betrothed!"  
"Leave Kagome out of this and get out! I have no need of a whore!"  
Riochi's eyes narrowed in anger. "How dare you call me that? I want no money. You ungrateful hanyou, you should be begging me for the opportunity to bed you!" She crossed her arms over her bare chest in anger and huffed. Then, suddenly a dangerous light came into her eyes. "You will bed me! I've seen your body and I want it!"  
"It will be a cold day in hell before I take you to my bed!" shouted Inuyasha. "Now, get out!"  
"I don't think so, my beautiful demon lover. You will do as I say or else."  
"Or else what, wench? I am about to throw you out of this room!"  
"You lay a hand on me and I will swear that you tried to rape me. And who will they believe? An innocent servant girl or a filthy hanyou?! What will your precious Kagome think?"  
"I don't know about others," came a cold voice from the door of the bath, "but I will always believe in my mate."  
Riochi spun to face the voice in the door. That was unfortunate for her. She spun right into the fist of one very enraged miko and dropped like a rock. Kagome turned to look at the manager of the inn, rubbing her wrist. "I hope that you have an appropriate punishment for this."  
The managers face was red with anger. He gestured for two of his men to come in and pick up the unconcious girl. "Do not worry, my lady. She will be dealt with." He turned and left the room.  
"Uh, Kagome?" asked a voice from behind the still seething young woman. She turned to look at Inuyasha in his tub. "What?" she snapped.  
"Nice punch?" he said, tentatively.  
Kagome looked at him and started giggling. This turned into laughter that Inuyasha joined in on. After the laughter died down, Kagome looked at her man fondly. "Oh, Inuyasha?" she called, in a singsong kind of voice.  
"What, Kagome?"  
"Why don't I scrub your back?"  
  
A/N: And that is all for now. I hope that you enjoyed it. By the way, I am including a poem written by my eldest daughter in these author's notes. It is not an Inuyasha poem but it is a nice little poem and I am very proud of my little girl for writting it. She is 16 now.  
  
Thoughts of a Dragon  
  
I am strong. I am fierce. Heh, I'm lyin' to myself. The truth be told, Plain and simple I am old. I am older than you could ever guess. So old that I breath my fire less and less.  
  
I have a horde, but not of gold and jewels as you might think. My horde is made of butterflies.....yes, butterflies. Ever since I was young I was strange. I didn't eat maidens for lunch. I found them unpleasant to munch. Ok, maybe I toasted a village or two, But what's a bored dragon supposed to do?  
  
I feel myself fading away as magic grows thinner. All my friends and family are gone. Gone to a dimension that will let them live strong. But I was attached to this world and its beautiful butterflies. Where I can fly and fly in the never-ending skies. But I gave up so much to live in this world I cherish. So long without magic and family that I must perish. 


	20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty  
  
A/N: Now, on to my story. I have been catching up on my reading and relaxing a little bit while thinking over this next chapter. I hope that my fans will enjoy it and that any new readers will find it interesting enough to come back for more. I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Dinner was a lavish affair. The innkeeper had outdone himself in the preparation of the meal. Partially because of the presence of a demon lord at his table and partially because of the cousin of his lord at the table. And, it didn't hurt that he felt responsible for the 'incident' with Riochi. He felt that he needed to placate the feelings of Inuyasha and his mate, the Lady Kagome. The other adults, except for Jaken, had heard of what had happened. Miroku decided that it would be better not to inform the innkeeper that the couple wouldn't hold him accountable for what had happened. He planned to milk it for as much as the innkeeper was willing to give them! Sesshoumaru didn't care and Sango just rolled her eyes at the greed of her 'holy' friend. Sesshoumaru was placed at the head of the table, as his station demanded. Places were left for Inuyasha and Kagome to his right. At first, Rin was to sit at the childrens table, that is until Sesshoumaru called to her.  
"Rin. Come, sit here." he commanded with a nod of his head to indicate the seat to his left. Rin smiled widely and grabbed Shippou by the arm and dragged him to seat next to her at the table.  
Miroku watched this with amusement. 'She treats him like her property. If they were older we would have a problem on our hands. Sesshoumaru might not want his ward falling for his brother's adopted son!' Still, he had to admit that they made a cute couple and were actually very compatable in personality. He winced at that last thought. He wasn't sure how many more practical jokes he could endure. Granted that most of them had been directed at Jaken but there were only so many times that one could stand to hear the wail of "Lord Sesshoumaru!" before one began to think of death and dismemberment.  
Speaking of Jaken, he had finally convinced the serving staff that he was, in fact, an adult. This way, he had a place set for him at the main table. Unfortunately for Miroku, it was between him and Sango! Miroku sighed to himself. It wasn't quite as bad as he had first feared it would be. The toad demon actually could tell a fairly interesting story, once you got past that voice of his. Now, if he would just switch seats with him so that he could be next to Sango.  
Inuyasha and Kagome appeared in the door and made their way to the table. As Inuyasha took his seat, Sesshoumaru looked at his brother. "I see you finally finished your bath." he said, completely deadpan.  
Inuyasha looked at his brother strangely. If he didn't know that cold fish better, he would have sworn he had just taken a shot at him! He turned and started to speak to Kagome, when he noticed her blushing furiously. So, she noticed Sesshoumaru's strange statement, too. He hadn't imagined it!  
"Just what do you mean by that?!" he demanded.  
Sesshoumaru looked at his brother with a kind of bored amusement. "Nothing other than what I stated." He turned his head to look at his dinner companions. "Perhaps you should have accepted the help offered to you with your bath. You might have finished earlier."  
Inuyasha's face turned white, then red with embarressment. He began to sputter as Miroku, Sango, and Daremo began to laugh behind their hands. "I did have help with my bath!" he began to yell when he stopped and looked at Kagome, mortified by what he had just said.  
For her part, Kagome blushed and ducked her head. Then she looked up at everyone, defiantly. "I just washed his back for him." she explained. 'Of course, he felt obligated to wash mine for me, but they don't need to know that!' she thought to herself, blushing again.  
Sango decided that it was time to save her friends from further embaressment. "Let's eat!" she declared.  
Feeling he was on safer ground, Inuyasha agreed. "Yeah! I'm starving!"  
"I would be, too." said Miroku, casting a significant look at Kagome.  
Inuyasha blinked as he absorbed what the monk had implied. He reached for a piece of cold fish. "Hey, monk!" he called.  
"Yes, Inuyasha?" answered the unsuspecting monk. He turned his face to look at Inuyasha, just in time to catch the fish full in the face.  
  
Interlude  
A man at arms appraoached the lord of the manor. "All is in readiness, my lord."  
The young lord looked at the soldier. "Very good. You will leave at first light." He motioned for someone from the side to step forward. A woman of almost unearthly beauty stepped from the shadows. Her face was expressionless as she stepped forward and presented herself to her lord. "This woman is to be my emissary. You will obey her as you would me."  
"As you wish, my lord." said the startled man at arms. He didn't care for this developement. He didn't like taking orders from a woman!  
The ends of the woman's lips curved upward in a slight smile. The man at arms was startled by the change that smile had on the woman's face. From a dispassionate beauty to a cruel and deadly predator with just the slightest upturn of a lip was unnerving! "Do not worry." came the sultry voice of the woman, full of promise and yet cold as the grave. "My demands will not be onerous." Then she laughed, low and dangerous. "But, I do expect my demands to be met!"  
"Enough!" declared the young lord. "Do not bait my men." He looked at the soldier. "You are dismissed." After the soldier had left, he turned to the woman. "You know your mission."  
"Yes, yes." said the woman, with exasperation. "I am to visit the Lord Tanaka under the guise of a trade mission. My true goal is to disrupt his meeting with the demon lord Sesshoumaru."  
"Very good. Do whatever you must to insure the failure of that meeting. I do not want an alliance between Sesshoumaru and Tanaka." The lord glared at the woman. "Do not fail me in this, Kagura."  
"I would never dream of failing you, Lord Kagowaki, or should I say, Naraku?"  
  
Inuyasha paced in his room. He couldn't get comfortable in this place! He left the room and sniffed the air. He followed his nose to an open window. Outside was a garden. 'Now that's more like it!' He put his foot on the window sill to jump out into the garden when a voice stopped him.  
"Inuyasha? Is that you?" called a familiar voice. "What are you doing?"  
Inuyasha smiled. He should have known that she would have had trouble sleeping, too. "Just going outside, Kagome. I can't sleep under this roof, not when it is a clear night like this."  
Kagome smiled, softly. "I can't sleep either. Can I come with you?"  
"Feh!" he snorted. "Like you have to ask. Climb on." He bent over slightly to make it easier for her to climb on his back. Once she had her arms around his neck, he leapt from the window. After he landed, she got off his back. Before she could move though, Inuyasha had spun around and picked her up, bridal style. Before she could even let out an "Eeep!" of surprise, he had jumped up into a nearby tree. He settled on a branch, his back against the trunk and Kagome in his lap. "Now. Isn't this better?" he asked, in her ear.  
She shivered from his breath on her ear. She turned her head and kissed him lightly. "Yes." she agreed. "Much better." Then she sighed and settled back into the warmth of his body. "Good night, Inuyasha." Her eyes drooped closed, and she smiled with content.  
"Good night, Kagome." returned the hanyou. His arms tightened around her slightly. 'Any night with you in my arms is a good night.' With that thought, he dropped off into sleep.  
Unbeknownst to them, they had an audience. Sesshoumaru watched the two settle into the tree for the night. Could it be envy that he felt, or just a longing for what he had lost? He thought of his lost mate and child. 'No, I do not envy my brother his happiness. He has had little reason to be happy in his life. And I have had my time of happiness, but it is gone now.' With this melancholy thought, Sesshoumaru turned from the window where he had been observing his brother. He looked at the children sleeping on the floor. Rin had Shippou in a possesive hug. It brought a brief flash of something to his heart. The feeling startled the demon lord. When it passed, he felt guilty. 'I have no right to feel happiness and yet I do.' He looked at the little girl sleeping on the floor. He felt the surge again and had no doubt. 'I do have feelings for this child. She makes me .... happy.' Mystified by this, Sesshoumaru turned to his bed to sleep. And, for once, his dreams were not so sad.  
  
A/N: Thank you for your patience with me. I am finally getting to the meat of this story and I hope that everyone enjoys it. Things are about to get very interesting for Inuyasha and Kagome. 


	21. Chapter Twentyone

Chapter Twenty-one  
  
A/N:Okay, folks! This story is about to get very interesting, or at least I hope you think so! The themes are about to get a little darker. There will still be some humor thrown in to keep it from getting too somber, but there is going to be some heartache as well. Be sure to tell me what you think of the upcoming chapters, and remember, I don't get offended. I might feel the need to defend myself and my views from time to time, (nods to PJ) but I relish criticism. So, feel free to take your best shot! I don't own Inuyasha, besides, I don't want to know what bad habits my kids would pick up from him if I did!  
  
After breakfast, Daremo approached the brothers. "My Lord Sesshoumaru, I must ask you this. How set are you on following protocol?"  
"What do you mean, Daremo?"  
"Would you be offended if Lord Inuyasha preceded you into the audience chamber? I only ask this of you because his cousin, Lord Genki and his aunt, the Lady Mariko, are anxious to see him."  
"Hold a moment. The Lady Mariko still lives?" Sesshoumaru asked quietly.  
"Yes, my Lord."  
Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyuasha. "I will suspend protocol in this instance. I would do nothing to disappoint that woman."  
Inuyasha looked at his brother in shock. "You know Aunt Mariko?!"  
"Why are you so surprised, Inuyasha? I am older than you, and I was present when father made his treaty with your grandfather. I met with both your mother and your aunt before the marriage." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Your aunt was a most lovely and gracious woman who treated me with great kindness, in spite of my bad manners." The last was said with some regret.  
"Bad manners?" prompted Inuyasha.  
sigh "In my youth, I was quick to believe that I was superior to all humans."  
"Feh! That hasn't changed!"  
"That is not completely true. I am superior, but there are humans that are worth my respect. You travel with two, your mate and the exterminator. Your aunt is another worthy of my respect."  
Inuyasha's mouth dropped open in shock. He never thought he would hear his brother admit that any human was worth his respect!  
Sesshoumaru's lips turned up in a slight smile from the expression on Inuyasha's face. "You don't agree with me?"  
Inuyasha's mouth snapped shut. "No! I mean, yes. Argh! I mean that I agree with you. They are all worthy of respect."  
"Then it is agreed?" asked Daremo.  
"Yes, it is agreed. However, I would like to come in with my brother. I would like to pay my respect to Lady Mariko." 'And to apologize for my behavior as an immature demon.' he thought to himself.  
"Excellent! Now, I have brought something for you, Lord Inuyasha. It is a gift from your aunt. She thought that you might not have something formal to wear." He snapped his fingers for a servant to come forward with a package.  
"What's wrong with what I have on?" asked the indignant hanyou.  
"Nothing, if you are going to care for animals or are going into battle." responded Sesshoumaru. "You need more formal attire for court, Inuyasha." As Inuyasha began to protest, Sesshoumaru cut him off. "Think of your cousin and aunt, if not for yourself. You do not want to embaress them in court, do you?"  
sigh "No, I don't want to embaress them. It's just that... I've never had any other clothes than these. Father gave them to me as a child, and I have never wanted any others. These are comfortable." The servant held out the package for Inuyasha, at Daremo's gesture. "Very well. I'll go change." He looked for Kagome and the others. They were nowhere to be seen. "I guess everyone else is changing already."  
"Indeed. Now I must go and put on more formal attire, as well." He cast a sly look at his brother. "Should I send a servant to help you change?"  
"That won't be necessary." replied Inuyasha, coldly.  
Daremo laughed silently as Inuyasha stalked off to his room with the package.  
  
An hour later, everyone had gathered in the front hall. Everyone, except Inuyasha. Kagome was pacing the floor, which is quite a task in a kimono. "Where is he?" she fretted. "If he doesn't show up soon, I'll 's' word him into next week!"  
"Now, now, Kagome!"laughed Miroku. "That would hardly be fair!"  
She turned to look at the monk. "What do you mean?"  
"He has had to wait on you numerous times, and he is much more impatient than you are!"  
She glared at him and started to make a rude comment, then thought better of it. He was right. Inuyasha had waited for her plenty of times, and he definately was more impatient than she was! "You're right, Miroku. It's just that.." she looked embaressed.  
"What, Kagome?" asked Sango, who had been listening to her friends quiet fussing.  
"Kimono's are not my favorite thing to wear. I feel like I'm going to trip every time I take a step." She blushed, lightly. "I'm not very graceful in one of these things!" She looked back at Miroku. "And all this is beside the point. What is keeping him?"  
"Perhaps, I should have sent a servant to help him change." stated Sesshoumaru.  
"Change?" asked Kagome. "Change into what? Inuyasha has no other clothes than his fire rat outfit."  
Before Sesshoumaru could explain, Inuyasha's voice came from the entrance to the hallway leading to the rooms. "Change into this." he said, as he stepped from the hallway. Everyone turned to look at him. And then they stared at him in silence. Even Shippou and Rin stopped their playing and looked at him in surprise. Finally, Inuyasha broke the silence. "What is everyone staring at?!" he said, loudly.  
"Inuyasha." began Kagome, but she was cut off.  
"Wow, papa Inu!" exclaimed Shippou. He ran up to jump on Inuyasha's shoulder. "You look good! You should wear clothes like this more often."  
"I agree." said Miroku. He approached Inuyasha. "These robes are of an older style, but the cut of them suits you."  
"Feh! I'm only wearing them to please my aunt. She sent them for me to wear."  
"Well, they certainly look good on you. They are almost worth the wait. Now, what kept you?" demanded Kagome.  
"I had trouble putting these on."  
"You had trouble dressing?"  
"No!" responded the irratated hanyou. "I had trouble putting these on because of the scent on them. They belonged to grandfather." This last was said, sadly. "The scent brought up old memories."  
"Bad ones?" asked Kagome, her voice full of concern.  
"Some, not all." Inuyasha changed the subject. "So. You like the new outfit." He turned to model it for her and the others. The robes were of a simple cut, and the colors were muted, but there was a very subtle design that drew the eye and improved the look. The robes seemed to be made to enhance the wearer without drawing attention away from the wearer.  
"Your grandfather was a man of simple taste."  
"Yes, he was. He didn't believe in grand displays of his power or wealth. He always thought of himself as a simple soldier who had had good fortune."  
"Your grandfather was many things, but simple was not one of them." This statement came from Sesshoumaru. "He was a man of carefully controlled power. He had no need for posturing." Sesshoumaru paused. "Much like myself."  
Inuyasha snorted but let the comment pass. "Well, what are we waiting for Daremo. Let's go!" This said, he strode out the front door.  
Everyone looked at each other in exasperation. "We wait for him and he acts like he had to wait for us!" exclaimed Sango.  
A yell came from outside. "Come on, we don't have all day!"  
"Kagome? If you please?" asked Miroku.  
"It would be my pleasure. Inuyasha, SIT!"  
"ARGH!" "Ow! Inuyasha get off me!"  
"Oh, no! I forgot Shippou was on his shoulder!"  
  
The Lady Mariko watched her son pace the audiance chamber floor with a tolerant smile. Her fathers genes had breed true in her son. Even though he was a little over sixty-four years old, he still carried himself erect and with strength. He also had a touch of her fathers impatience.  
"What is keeping them?" he asked out loud, not really expecting an answer.  
"Patience, my son. We have waited sixty years to see Inuyasha again. A few more hours will not matter."  
Genki paused in his pacing to look at his mother. "Your a fine one to talk, mother. The servants told me that you did not sleep last evening."  
Lady Mariko sighed. "True. I am anxious to see him. I wonder what type of man he has grown into."  
"Demon, mother. Remember that he is a demon and may be offended by calling him a man."  
"Nonsense, Genki! He is my nephew and he will know what I mean if I say that."  
Further talk was ended by the entrance of a servant. "My lord, the party approaches the main gate."  
"Excellent. You may go." he dismissed the servant and stepped up to his place next to his mother. As he settled in next to her, he had an errant thought. "Mother?"  
"Yes, my son?"  
"Do you think we should summon her?"  
"Not yet, Genki. I want some time for myself with Inuyasha before we bring her into this."  
"Do you think that wise?"  
"Perhaps not, but it is my decision to make. The consequences shall be on my head."  
"Very well, mother. But she will get very upset when she finds out that he is alive and we didn't tell her."  
"I know. But I want to see him before she takes over his time." Lady Mariko paused. "She hasn't seen him in fifty years. But I haven't seen him in sixty years, and my time grows short. She will have plenty of time to be with him, later. Now, let's not talk of this anymore. He will be here soon."  
"Yes, mother." He reached out and gently gripped his mother's hand for a moment. She patted the back of his hand with her free hand and settled in to wait on her nephew.  
  
A/N: This is beginning to get fun again. And now to begin my time honored tradition of the cliffhanger. I haven't been using it to its full potential, as of late, but that is about to change. See you later. 


	22. Chapter Twentytwo

Chapter Twenty-two  
  
A/N: Greetings, true believers! I think that people are getting fed up with me for taking so long getting to the face to face. Well, the wait is over! Now, the real fun begins! This chapter is delicate, so it has taken a while to develope. I have known some of the elements and how I want to use them, getting them down correctly is another story! Let me know what you think and if it is what you anticipated. Heads up to PJ, thanks for the kind reviews, my avid Kagome fan! Anyway, it is time to begin this chapter, so, I don't own Inuyasha or any of his pals.  
  
Inuyasha was nervous. With every step that brought him closer to the audience hall, he could feel the knot in his stomach getting tighter. Thoughts kept running through his mind. 'What if she doesn't like me? What if I'm not what she expects? What if she is disappointed in who I am and what I have done? What if ...' His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his arm. He looked down in surprise and found out that it was Kagome.  
She smiled at him. "It will be alright. She will love you as you are."  
"How?"  
"Did I know what you were thinking? It was easy." Kagome stretched up and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, Inuyasha. She will love you, as much as I do."  
Inuyasha took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thanks, Kagome. I hope you're right."  
"I know I am."   
  
'What if he doesn't like me?' the Lady Mariko thought.  
"Mother, stop it."  
Lady Mariko looked at her son in surprise. "How?"  
"Did I know what you were thinking?" Genki smiled at his mother. "Occupational hazard of being your son. I know you too well. Don't worry, mother. He will love you, if he has any sense at all."  
A servant came to the door. "My lord, they come." He left the chamber.  
"Finally, Mother. We get to see him again." He paused for a moment. He laughed slightly, "I wonder what he looks like now."  
  
Daremo halted before the doors of the audience chamber. "My lord Inuyasha? Would you step here to the front? They will want to see you first."  
Inuyasha stepped up to the front of the group. When he was in position, Kagome stepped up to his left side and placed a hand on his arm. When he looked at her in question, she just smiled and said, "I'll be right here." He nodded his thanks.  
Daremo placed his hand on the door. "Ready, my lord?"  
"Wait!" said Inuyasha. His friends looked at him in surprise. He turned to look at them. "Look, I'm no good with words. I just want you to know that I'm glad you came with me." Inuyasha looked directly at Sesshoumaru. "You too, brother."  
Sesshoumaru said nothing in return. But he did incline his head in acknowledgement of what Inuyasha had said. He then stepped forward to be on his brother's right.  
Jaken's mouth dropped open. "My lord!" he began, indignantly.  
"Silence, Jaken." Sesshoumaru said evenly. "I have stated that I would suspend protocol, in this instance. That is my decision to make and none of your affair."  
"But, but..." Jaken took a deep breath and sighed. "Yes, my lord." He then took his customary place behind his master.  
Inuyasha looked at Sesshoumaru in surprise. He had thought that his brother would have stayed at the door to be announced later instead of standing with him. And in a subordinate position, no less! He nodded his head in thanks to his brother. Sesshoumaru kept his face impassive but returned the nod. Kagome beamed at the brothers. Maybe they hadn't reconciled, yet, but it was a start!  
Rin stepped up next to her lord and took his hand. He looked down at her. His features softened, slightly, and he squeezed her hand, softly. She looked up at him and smiled. "My lord?" she asked. "Who are we waiting to see?"  
"The Lord Tanaka and the Lady Mariko, Inuyasha's cousin and aunt. Be on your best behavior."  
"Oh! Yes, my lord." Rin paused a second. "My lord, if they are Inuyasha's cousin and aunt, aren't they your cousin and aunt, too?"  
"No, Rin. I'll explain later."  
"Yes, my lord."  
Shippou had taken this opportunity to get next to Kagome. He leapt up to get Kagome to catch him but he was intercepted. Inuyasha grabbed him by his tail and picked him up to eye level. "Oi, runt! What do you think you're doing?"  
"I was just going to get Kagome to carry me!"  
"Nothin' doin'!" Inuyasha brought his free arm up beneath the kitsune and then let him go. Shippou scrambled up his arm to his shoulder. "You can ride on me. I can carry you easier than Kagome can." He looked at the kitsune on his shoulder. "Besides, I want my son with me." Shippou beamed at Inuyasha and hugged him around the neck. "Ugh! That's enough, runt! You're choking me!"  
Miroku and Sango smiled at the interchange between Inuyasha and Shippou. They fell in behind their friends.  
When everyone had found a place Inuyasha turned to Daremo and spoke. "Alright, we're ready."  
"Very good, my lord. Now, just stay behind me and I shall announce you to the Lord and Lady." Daremo turned back to the door and pushed it open. Slowly, he advanced into the room, with Inuyasha and his friends behind him.  
  
As the door on the far side of the room opened, Genki and his mother straightened. 'Finally!' both thought. They watched intently as Daremo stepped into the room. Lady Mariko's eyes went immediately to the young man behind Daremo. She smiled to herself and congradulated herself on her own imagination. 'I knew that it would be a good idea to send father's robes. Now, I know exactly who I am looking for.' Her eyes misted as she looked at the hanyou who slowly advanced toward her and her son. 'He is so tall! Oh, I will not cry, I will not cry! I won't embaress him that way!' The closer Inuyasha came to her, the harder it was to contain herself. 'He looks like his father.' she thought. 'He has Itami's mouth, though. Oh, by the gods, I want to hold him!' Her heart beat hard in her chest as she struggled with the desire to throw protocol to the winds and embrace her lost child. Daremo came to a halt before Genki and bowed. "My Lord Tanaka, I wish to present to you the younger brother of the Demon Lord of the West, your cousin, the Lord Inuyasha."  
Before Genki could acknowledge his cousins presence, a movement caught his eye. He turned to see his mother stand. Tears were streaming down her face. "I am sorry, my son, but protocol be damned! I have mourned his death and have rejoiced at hearing of his rebirth. I will not wait any longer!" She faced the startled hanyou and took a step toward him. She held out trembling hands for him. "Inu-chan! I have not held you since you left with your mother. Please, let me hold you now!"  
Mariko saw the beautiful young woman at Inuyasha's side take a kitsune from his shoulder. She had tears running down her face as well. She nudged Inuyasha and encouraged him. "Go on, Inuyasha! I told you she would want you!"  
Inuyasha took a step toward her. Then another. Suddenly, he rushed into her arms and held her in a tight embrace. He began to cry as the years rolled back and he felt the love of his mother's sister, the woman who he had loved as much as his mother. And, finally, a piece of his soul was able to heal.  
Mariko's tears fell into her nephews hair as she held him. She felt a peace come over her that came from holding her nephew. "It is alright, my little one." she soothed, as she did years ago. "I am here and I will let nothing seperate us again." She looked over his shoulder at the others who she just now truly noticed. 'An interesting group.' she thought. 'I must get Inuyasha to tell me who they are. Though I think I know the inu- youkai.' This thought passed on, though, as she turned her attention back to Inuyasha. 'But it can wait.' she thought, as she tightened her grip on her long lost nephew. 'For a few minutes more, it can wait.'  
  
A/N: Well, I tried. I hope that this was worth the wait. 


	23. Chapter Twentythree

Chapter Twenty-three  
  
A/N: Overwhelmed. That is the word that I am looking for. I am pleased that so many of you enjoyed the latest chapter as much as you did. I hope that I continue to please you. I would like to thank Mitsuki-chan for her reviews. Deviant art, huh. I must say, you called me to task on several things. I appreciate that. I must confess that part of my errors are based in laziness, either by not taking the time to proofread or by not researching enough. Grammatical errors are mostly due to lack of practice. I have done no creative writing, except for poetry, since college. (18 yrs ago) chuckle My 'little' sister has called me to task for my spelling and grammatical errors, as well. She is a Spanish teacher who has also taught writing. Please feel free to chime in at any time to let me know what you think of the story or to bring any other errors to light. (FYI Mitsuki - My 14 yr old daughter is obsessed with the Inu-youkai demon lord, too!) This goes for all of you who have taken a liking to my story. I hope that you feel free to say whatever comes to mind when you review. I am easy to get along with and accept criticism, as long as it is constructive. Again, my thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. And in answer to another reviewer, Sesshoumaru didn't have Tensaiga when his mate was murdered. Now, to begin this chapter before you guys get a lynch mob together and find me! I don't own Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, or any of their friends or followers.  
  
Inuyasha inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of this woman who had meant so much to him in his youth. It was a scent that brought back memories of comfort and peace. He had stopped crying and was just basking in the warmth of her embrace, and enjoying the feel of her stroking his ears. He didn't let just anyone touch his ears. Only a lucky few, Kagome, her mother, his mother, and his aunt, had ever touched his ears with permission. Well, there was one other, but they had been kids and she was either an old woman now or dead. He took another deep breath and raised his head. Slowly, he pulled back away from his aunt to get a better look at her. The years had been kind to her, but it was still a shock to really look at her. Time had passed differently for the two of them. To him, not much more than eleven years had passed. He knew that it was actually sixty- one years but seeing his aunt go from a woman of twenty-two to a woman of eighty-three was a little unnerving.  
Mariko read some of what was going on in his face. "Have I changed that much, Inu-chan?"  
"I'm sorry, Aunt Mariko. It's just that, for me, the last time I saw you was eleven years ago. To me, you should only be in your thirties. I never thought much about being pinned to that tree for fifty years, until now."  
Mariko's face darkened at the mention of his time on the tree. "Yes. Being on that tree robbed us all. We could have brought you home much sooner had we known that you were still alive. When we found out that you were, it was too late." she took a breath. "That 'priestess' had pinned you to that tree!" She looked at her nephew. "We were told that she died shortly after. I would have liked to gotten my hands on her before she did, though."  
"Uhm, uh, well..." Inuyasha began. He was interupted by a womans voice.  
"Er, pardon me, Lady Mariko, but the story gets pretty complicated."  
Inuyasha snapped his head around to look at Kagome. She had come up behind him, holding Shippou. He could see the others waiting patiently, except for Jaken and Rin. Rin was getting restless and Jaken was getting nervous!  
Lady Mariko raised an eyebrow at the young woman with the kitsune cub in her arms. "Inu-chan? Would you be so kind as to introduce me to your friends?"  
"Of course, Aunt Mariko." Inuyasha was relieved that he got out of that one for a while. He held out his hand to take Kagome's in his. "Aunt Mariko, I would like to introduce you to Kagome Higurashi. She is the miko who freed me from the tree. She is also my best friend." He looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "And, my mate."  
Lady Mariko stepped forward and gathered Kagome in for a hug. Shippou scampered to Kagome's shoulder before he got caught between the two. "My dear, you are most welcome. I am in your debt for freeing Inu-chan from the spell that witch put on him!"  
"Uhm, uh, well... I was glad to do it!" Kagome stammered. "Besides, I think I got a good deal out of it." She winked at Inuyasha.  
"Now," Mariko looked at Inuyasha after she disengaged from the hug. "You said 'mate'?"  
"Not officially." Inuyasha blushed, slightly. "We haven't mated, yet. We have a task that we have to finish, first."  
"I see." Strangely, Lady Mariko didn't pursue this. Instead, she changed the subject by looking at Shippou. "And who is this handsome young man?" she asked, reaching out to stroke his head in much the same way as she did Inuyasha's.  
"I'm Shippou!" he declared before either of his adopted parents could speak. "You're a nice lady!" He leaned into her hand as she started scratching him behind the ears. "Ooohhh! A very nice lady!"  
Lady Mariko gave a delighted laugh. "Why, thank you! And you seem to be a very nice young man!"  
"Feh!" muttered Inuyasha. "A lot you know!"  
"Now, Inu-chan! I am sure that he is no different than other little boys his age." Her eyes twinkled, merrily. "I seem to recall a great deal of mischief from you at his age!"  
"Hey!" protested Inuyasha. "That wasn't all me! Genki had a hand in it, too!"  
"Leave me out of this, Inu-jiji!"  
Inuyasha spun to glare at his cousin. Then he snorted. "Look who is calling who old! You are in no position to call me old!"  
Genki smiled ruefully and looked down at himself. He shrugged. "True. But, then again, I didn't get to sleep the last fifty years away." He grinned. "I'm glad it was only sleep. I have missed you, cousin. It is good to see you." He opened his arms to embrace Inuyasha. Inuyasha grinned and picked up his cousin in a tight hug. "Ooof! Put me down, Inu-jiji! I'm too old for this nonsense!" Inuyasha laughed and set his cousin back on the floor. "Now, why don't you introduce me to your friends, as well."  
"Well, as you have heard, this is Kagome. And the attention hog, there, is Shippou. He is my adopted son."  
"Actually, I adopted him first. It took Inuyasha some getting used to before he decided to adopt him, too."  
"Feh! That doesn't matter, I've adopted him now." Inuyasha stopped and looked at the rest of the party. 'I guess I should introduce Sesshoumaru, next. No need to insult him by making him last.' "Genki, Aunt Mariko, I would like to introduce you to my brother, Sesshoumaru."  
Sesshoumaru stepped forward with Rin holding his hand. When he came up to the startled Genki and Lady Mariko, he inclined his head to them. "It is an honor to be in this house." He turned his gaze to the Lady Mariko, alone. "It pleases me that you still live, Lady Mariko."  
"Sesshoumaru! Oh, I'm sorry, I should say Lord Sesshoumaru! I thought that I recognized you!" Mariko looked at him appraisingly. "You have grown into a handsome demon, but then, you were handsome when you were younger anyway." Mariko looked at the young girl at Sesshoumaru's side, holding his hand. "And who is this lovely young lady? Is she your daughter?"  
"No, she is not. She is human." he replied with a touch of stiffness. " She is my ward, Rin."  
Rin ducked her head and was suddenly overcome with a bought of shyness. She hid behind Sesshoumaru's leg.  
"It's alright, child. I don't bite. Come out so that I can get a better look at you."  
"Yeah, come on Rin." called Shippou. He jumped down and went to her. He took her hand and pulled on it to get her from behind Sesshoumaru. "She's a nice lady."  
Rin allowed herself to be pulled forward. She trusted Shippou and new that he wouldn't stear her wrong. She bowed to Lady Mariko. "This Rin is pleased to meet you. Are you really Inuyasha-sama's aunt?"  
"Yes, my dear, I am."  
"Why aren't you Sesshoumaru-sama's aunt, too?"  
"Rin. I told you that I would explain later." Sesshoumaru admonished the child, softly.  
"I'm sorry, milord."  
"It's alright, Lord Sesshoumaru. I don't mind the question." Lady Mariko smiled at Rin. "Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru have the same father, but Inuyasha's mother was my sister. They met and married after Lord Sesshoumaru's mother died."  
"Ohhh! I see!" Rin looked up at Sesshoumaru. "I'm sorry about your mother, milord. I never thought about you having a mother."  
Several of the adults standing nearby suddenly developed fits of coughing at the child's innocent remark. Inuyasha openly snorted. "That's one way to put it." he mumbled.  
Sesshoumaru cast an icy look his brothers direction. "That is quite alright, Rin. Now, we need to let Inuyasha continue with his introductions."  
Inuyasha grimaced slightly at the next person to introduce. 'I might as well get this over with.' sigh "The other person in Sesshoumaru's party is his vassal. His name is ...." That was as far as he got before he was interrupted by his aunt.  
"Jaken." she finished for him. "Oh, yes. I remember him from the last time he was here." Her face wore the look of someone who wished they didn't.  
"Really!?" exclaimed the little toad demon. "It is nice to meet a human who finally recognizes..."  
"Jaken, be silent." ordered Sesshoumaru, interupting what he knew would be a very long winded speech.  
Jaken visably deflated and then sighed. "Yes, my lord."  
Lady Mariko looked at Sesshoumaru and mouthed the words, "Thank you!" Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and allowed the corner of his mouth to quirk up slightly in acknowledgement.  
Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief that his brother had shut the annoying toad up and continued with his introductions. "This lady," he said, indicating Sango, "is the demon exterminator, Sango."  
This statement caused intakes of breath from his cousin and aunt. Genki recovered first. "You travel with a demon exterminator! Why doesn't she try to kill you?"  
"She did, the first time we met. But Kagome got her to come around to the idea that not all demons or hanyous are evil."  
"It wasn't just Kagome, Inuyasha. It was being in close contact with you and Shippou that convinced me that there were both good and evil demons." Sango made this statement, quietly. "My father and the rest of my village never took the time to see if there were good and evil demons. They just assumed that all demons were evil unless they could be used as companions, like Kirara." The firecat demon looked up at her mistress and meowed.  
"Sango is a close and valued friend. She has saved the lives of everone in our party at one time or another." Kagome made this statement while moving over to put her arm around Sango's shoulders.  
"Not as many times as Inuyasha has!" protested Sango.  
"True. But he can't do everything and be everywhere!"  
"Feh! What's that supposed to mean?"  
Genki nodded in satisfaction. Mariko smiled at the exterminator. "You are welcome here. I am pleased that Inuyasha has so many good friends. I know that most hanyous don't."  
"Well, there is only one person left to introduce." He motioned for Miroku to step forward. "This is Miroku. He is a lecherous, hentai monk. But, he's pretty good in a fight."  
"Thank you for that flattering introduction." Miroku said, deadpan. He bowed to Lady Mariko. "It is always a pleasure to meet a beautiful lady such as yourself." He smiled and took one of her hands in both of his. "If I may be so bold, would you consider bearing my child?"  
Shippou groaned. Rin giggled. Sango and Kagome gasped. Inuyasha swore and reached for his sword. The Lady Mariko smiled and began to laugh, low at first and building until she had tears running down her face. "Oh, my goodness!" she was able to say after she got control of herself. "Thank you, monk! That is the best compliment that I have recieved in years!" She suddenly smiled a sly smile. "But, I have to know. What are you going to do when I accept your offer?"  
"Accept, my lady?!" Miroku was startled.  
"Why, of course!" Mariko smiled at him, coyly. "It has been many years since a man as handsome as yourself has offered to spend the evening in my arms. But it hasn't been so many that I have forgotten what it feels like!"  
"Mother!"  
"Aunt Mariko?!"  
Kagome was speechless. Sango was doing a slow burn. Shippou was the first one to get it, perhaps because he was the most devious one there. He started laughing. He ran over a leapt into Mariko's arms. After she caught him he leaned into her and in a stage whisper said, "How long are you going to string him along?"  
"I think that perhaps this is long enough." she replied, as she began scratching his ears. She winked at Miroku. "Be at ease, friend monk. I will not subject you to an old woman's embrace."  
Miroku smiled at her. "Somehow, I doubt that the experience would be entirely unpleasant. You intrigue me enough that I begin to feel disappointed."  
"Be careful, monk! I might change my mind!"  
"Miroku!" snarled a very ticked off Inuyasha. "If you know what's good for you, shut up!" Suddenly, he stopped and smiled, nastily. "Or would you rather me sic Sango on you?"  
"You don't need to sic me on him." came a frosty voice from behind the monk. Miroku's face paled. "I intend to have words with our friend here when we return to the inn and I retieve Hiraikotsu."  
"Lady Sango, that won't be necessary!" Miroku said in desperation.  
Sango smiled at him sweetly. "Oh, yes it will be, houshi-sama!"  
Mariko smiled at the interchange and was about to comment when a voice from the door of the audience chamber distracted her. Her face paled and she shared a quick look with her son as the voice spoke.  
"Forgive me, Lord Tanaka and Lady Mariko. I know that you didn't want to be interupted but..." The woman's voice trailed off as she saw the group before her. The group turned to look at the very beautiful young woman who had entered the chamber. Her eyes centered on Inuyasha and she turned white. No one was prepared for her reaction. "Inuyasha?"she said and then fainted.  
Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Kagome, Daremo, and Genki all rushed to the woman's side. Daremo dropped to his knees and supported the woman's head. Kagome knealt beside her to see if she could render first aid. "Let me help, Daremo. Lord Tanaka, could you get a servant to bring some water?"  
"Of course, Lady Kagome."  
"Inuyasha? Do you know this woman?" asked Miroku.  
"Never seen her before. Her scent is familiar but I don't recognize it or her face."  
"Are you sure, Inuyasha?" Lady Mariko asked, as she came up behind the group that had rushed over.  
"There is something, but I can't put my finger on it." He looked at his aunt. "Who is she?"  
"Inuyasha. Please, before I tell you, please don't be angry with me. I wanted to spend some time with you before I brought her back into your life." Mariko was looking desperate.  
"Aunt Mariko!" Inuyasha took her hands in his. "It's alright! I'm sure that it can't be that bad. Now, who is she?"  
Mariko took a deep breath. "This is Yukiho."  
Inuyasha was stunned. "But that's impossible!"  
"So, you do know this woman." stated Miroku.  
"It can't be! Yukiho was seven when I went into exile! She would be Genki's age now! This woman," he indicated the woman on the floor, "can't be much more than twenty!"  
"No, Inuyasha. It is the same Yukiho." Genki had returned from summoning a servant.  
"But, it's not possible."  
"It is if she is mated to a demon."  
"Yeah, maybe. But, who is her mate?"  
"Inuyasha! She claims that it's you!"  
Kagome's head shot up. "What!?" she exclaimed. Suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted across the woman she had been tending to.  
  
A/N: Yes, I am an evil man. Have I snared you yet? Are you ready to give me anything I ask for just to see how this ends? hahahaha Just kidding. I welcome the flames that are coming. Next up will be some explainations, and are they going to be good! Until next time, Fyrloche. 


	24. Chapter Twentyfour

Chapter Twenty-four  
  
A/N: Hello, everyone. I suppose it's time for me to get Inuyasha out of this jam, or not! evil laugh I actually almost wrote myself into a corner on this one, but I have come up with a solution to the mating problem that makes sense. Or, at least, I think it makes sense. Tell me what you think. I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Kagome could hear voices in the darkness, voices calling her name. "Kagome! Wake up!" came the voice of someone. He sounded angry and upset. "Mama-Kagome, please wake up!" came a younger voice. "Sesshoumaru-sama? What's wrong with Kagome-sama?" came a young girl's voice. "She will be fine, Rin. She has just recieved a shock and she will soon awake." She slowly started to come out of her sleep. "Ohh!" she moaned.  
"She's coming to!" came the angry voice, this time relief was in his voice. And as she came more awake, she recognized it as Inuyasha's. Kagome opened her eyes to the anxious face of her hanyou above her.  
"Oh, Inuyasha! I just had the most horrible dream!" She threw her arms around Inuyasha neck and clung to him. "We were meeting your aunt when a woman came in and your aunt said that she was your mate..." Her voice trailed off as she looked over Inuyasha's shoulder at the figure of a woman on the floor. Miroku was working to revive her from her faint. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" she asked softly. "Is it true?"  
"Kagome! How can you ask that?!"  
"You didn't answer me, Inuyasha." Kagome said, coldly. "Is it true?"  
Inuyasha looked at her with disbelief in his eyes that was rapidly turning into fury. "If you have to ask that, then you won't believe my answer." He stood and turned to walk away.  
"Sit!"  
"Arrgh!"  
Kagome looked at Inuyasha on the floor. He wasn't looking at her but she could see the anger and the pain in his face. "I ... I'm sorry Inuyasha." She started to cry. "I don't doubt you. It's just that this is, is, oohh! I don't know what it is! I'm just confused and upset and angry and...."  
The compulsion spell had worn off. Inuyasha sat up and stared at Kagome crying for a moment, his face expressionless. Then he sighed and took her into his arms. "Alright, I forgive you. Now stop crying, I hate it when you cry." Kagome just leaned into him and sobbed. Shippou came up and tried to push himself into her lap.  
"Mama-Kagome? Are you alright?"  
"She's fine, runt. Now give her a minute to get herself together so that we can sort this out."  
Kagome's sobs subsided into sniffles as she got control of herself. She pushed away from Inuyasha to take Shippou in her arms and hug him. "It's okay, Shippou." she reassured her adopted son, with a sniffle. "I'm ready to find out who this woman is." Kagome looked at Lady Mariko, who was hovering in the background. "My Lady, you said that this woman claimed to be Inuyasha's mate. Who is she?"  
Mariko took a deep breath. "Her name is Yukiho. She was one of Inuyasha's playmates when he lived here. And she was hopelessly in love with him."  
"She was just grateful that I kept bullies off her!" interupted Inuyasha.  
Mariko shook her head. "It was more than that, Inuyasha. She was truly in love with you."  
"But she was only seven. How could she be in love with me?"  
"She was. And she was devastated when you were exiled."  
"Okay, I get that she knew Inuyasha when he was a child. Why isn't she old?"  
"Well, she says that she mated with Inuyasha."  
"She hasn't mated with me! No one has!" Inuyasha stopped. He looked at the faces of the people who were gathered around him. "Well, no one has."  
Kagome smiled at Inuyasha, fondly. "It's fine, Inuyasha. Some of us haven't mated yet either." she said with a blush.  
"Inuyasha. Do not act the fool." Sesshoumaru paused for a moment. "You do know that the binding ritual does not require sex, don't you?"  
"Binding ritual?" asked Kagome. "What is a binding ritual?"  
"You haven't told her." Sesshoumaru looked visibly annoyed with his brother. "Inuyasha, I was wrong earlier to say that you were acting the fool. You ARE a fool."  
"Now wait a minute!" responded the irate hanyou. "I haven't told her because I don't know all the ritual! I have been trying to nail down Myouga for the key words and phrases, but he never stays around long enough for me to get the information out of him!"  
"If you two are done, I would like to get an answer to ...." That was as far as Kagome got when they heard a moan from the woman.  
"She's coming to!" shouted Inuyasha. "Now, let's get some answers!" This said, he stood and helped Kagome to her feet.  
"But, you still haven't answered my question." Kagome protested.  
"Later." said Inuyasha. "Right now, I want to find out how this woman can say that I am her mate."  
"Maybe she fainted because she knew her story was a lie and you were here to prove it wrong."  
Kagome and Inuyasha looked at Sango in shock. "You know, that's a pretty good idea you've got there, Sango!" exclaimed Inuyasha. "I'll bet that's it! Now to get the truth out of her!"  
"Don't hurt her, Inuyasha!"  
"Feh! I wouldn't hurt her, Kagome!"'But, I'm not above scaring her into thinking that I would!'  
By this time, they had gathered around Yukiho. She moaned again and slowly opened her eyes. At first she looked at the gathered faces above her with concern until her eyes stopped on Inuyasha. "By the gods, it wasn't a dream! You are alive!" She closed her eyes, and tears began to leak from them. Inuyasha gave Sango a look of 'you were right' and prepared to intimidate Yukiho into confessing her lie. Before he could open his mouth though, Yukiho's eyes snapped back open and she lunged at him, taking everyone by surprise. She threw her arms around him and kissed him hard on the mouth!  
Inuyasha waved his arms for a minute to try and catch his balance and fell over backward. Finally, he managed to get his hands on Yukiho's shoulders and push her away. Before he could say anything to her, she began babbling to fast for him to get a word in. "You're alive! And you're here! I knew you would come back to me, I knew it!"  
Yukiho suddenly felt a hand in her hair. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MATE!" screamed Kagome as she yanked Yukiho backwards with all her strength.  
Yukiho screamed as she hit the floor. She looked at Kagome in disbelief. "HE'S NOT YOUR MATE! HE'S MINE!" She leaped from the floor and rushed Kagome. Kagome set herself to take on Yukiho's rush and realized that she was at a distinct disadvantage. Yukiho was dressed in more practical working clothes, but she was in that stupid, formal kimono! As Yukiho reached her, she dropped to the floor in a body block that took Yukiho's legs out from under her. As Yukiho went flying through the air, Kagome used the respite to grasp the bottom of her kimono with her hands and rip the seam up to her hip. Now she could fight! She leapt to her feet to see that Yukiho had controlled her fall by going into a tumble and coming to her feet with her back to Kagome. Yukiho spun and set herself. She began to advance on Kagome at a more deliberate pace. Or at least, that is what she started to do before she was grabbed from behind by Inuyasha.  
"That's enough!" he shouted. "Yukiho, Kagome! This is getting us nowhere!"  
Yukiho cuddled back into Inuyasha. "Whatever you say, my love."  
Inuyasha released her like she had become white hot and Kagome glared daggers at her.  
Miroku chose this moment to say something. "Inuyasha!" he said, shaking his head. "I didn't think you had it in you to mate with two women at the same time!"  
"Miroku, you're not helping! I'm not mated to both of them!"  
"Well, if you're not, can I have the extra?"  
He must have thought that he was safe since Sango didn't have Hiraikotsu. He soon learned the error of his ways. She may not have had her boomerang, but her shoe worked just as well to knock the lecherous monk out cold.  
Sesshoumaru shook his head in disgust at the antics of his brother's friends. If anything was going to get resolved here, he was going to have to take control of the situation. "Woman." he said, addressing Yukiho. "You claim to be Inuyasha's mate. By what right do you make this claim?"  
"I make it because he is my mate! And none can say otherwise!" This last was said with a glare at Kagome.  
"Papa-Inu and Mama-Kagome are mates! And they are my parents!" shouted Shippou.  
"Be quiet, kitsune. I will handle this." Sesshoumaru looked at Yukiho appraisingly. "You have not answered my question. How is it that you can claim to be Inuyasha's mate when he has no knowledge of it?"  
"Well, I, uhm." Yukiho began to stammer.  
"Indeed, Yukiho. We have been led to believe that you and Inuyasha were mates. He obviously has no memory of it.Was this a lie?" Genki demanded.  
"NO! No, I didn't lie to you. It's just that, well..." Yukiho trailed off, obviously not wanting to explain.  
"Woman, I grow impatient. How do you claim Inuyasha as your mate?!"  
"Because I performed the mating ceremony after he was on that damned tree!" she shouted.  
"WHAT?" screamed Inuyasha.  
Kagome went to calm Inuyasha. Genki cleared his throat and looked at Yukiho and Sesshoumaru. "Lord Sesshoumaru. I believe that we should hear the entire story." He glared at Yukiho. "I expect a full explanation Yukiho."  
"Yes, my lord." She sighed. "Inuyasha, I dreamed of the day that I could tell you this, the day that I could explain."  
"Get on with it. I want to know what you did to me!"  
"It is a long story. I think that we need to go somewhere more private to discuss this."  
"Very well, Yukiho." agreed Lady Mariko. "I know of a good place. Please follow me. Daremo, stay with the monk until he awakens, then bring him to my garden."  
"Yes, my lady."  
"Now, everyone else, please follow me."  
  
A/N: Now that I have your attention, the next chapter will be a real eyeopener. I hope that you are enjoying this, so far. 


	25. Chapter Twentyfive

Chapter Twenty-five  
  
A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Now, PJ, no fair guessing! You might get something right. I'm not through with Inuyasha and Yukiho yet. And it will get ugly. I don't own Inuyasha.  
  
Lady Mariko led the way to her garden. When they arrived, she gestured for everyone to sit. "Yukiho." Mariko beckoned the woman to her. "I believe that now would be a good time to tell us the truth of your relationship with Inuyasha."  
"My lady, I have not lied. I am his mate."  
"NO!" exclaimed Inuyasha. "I did not perform the ritual with you!"  
Yukiho bowed her head. "You had been pinned to the tree by that bitch of a miko." Yukiho raised her head. She had tears in her eyes. "I was desperate to wake you!" She bowed her head, again. "So, I performed the ritual of binding to try and wake you."  
"Okay! I have had enough!" Kagome was getting very put out. "What is this 'ritual of binding'?"  
"I will explain. But first, I will know how this human woman gained knowledge of a very private ritual." Sesshoumaru looked at Yukiho. "I will not say this more than once, mortal woman, I order you to tell me where you gained your knowledge of the ritual of binding."  
Yukiho started to protest, to tell Sesshoumaru that how she gained the knowledge was none of his business, but something in his expression, or perhaps it would be better to say, his lack of expression, warned her that this person was no one to be trifled with. She swallowed and decided that it would be best to tell him. "I am a midwife. And many years ago, I helped with the birth of a hanyou child. I was the only midwife around who didn't have a problem with demons and humans being together. The father was human and the mother was an inu-youkai demoness. It was a difficult birth but eventually a healthy girl was brought into the world. While the mother and the daughter slept, the father celebrated with some sake. He didn't get drunk, but he did get very talkative. We talked about how he had met his mate and how he had won her heart. He talked about the joy of being a father and how he looked forward to seeing his children grow up and seeing his grandchildren and even farther. I was curious and asked him how he expected to live that long. He told me of the ritual."  
"I see." Sesshoumaru pondered for a moment. "I want their names. I need to have a talk with the inu-youkai bitch about her talkative husband."  
"There is no need for that, my lord."  
"Don't try my patience. I want their names."  
"I'm sorry, my lord. You don't understand. There is no need to talk to them because they are dead."  
Sesshoumaru looked at her for a moment to determine if she was lying to him. "How did that happen?"  
"A battle was fought near their home. Some of the soldiers attacked their house because of the demoness. The father attacked the soldiers to buy his mate and daughter time to escape. He died after killing several. But as his mate was running away, she ran into reinforcements for the first soldiers. They launched a flight of arrows that severely injured the daughter. It drove her mad and she attacked the soldiers. She killed them all but then she died of her wounds." Yukiho started crying. "I had made friends with them and they were murdered! And their daughter was left for dead!"  
Kagome gasped. She didn't like this woman who claimed Inuyasha was her mate, but she was feeling sympathy for her. "That's awful! I'm sorry that you lost your friends!"  
Yukiho spared a look of gratitude to her rival. She didn't like this woman who claimed to be Inuyasha's mate, but maybe she wasn't a bad person. "I was the one who found them and their infant daughter. Since no one would take in a hanyou child," Inuyasha stiffened, "I raised her."  
"You still have not given me the name of the bitch."  
"Stop calling her that!" screamed Yukiho. "She was a kind and gentle person! She wasn't a bitch!"  
Sesshoumaru growled. The ignorance of humans sometimes astonished him. "She was a female inu-youkai. Therefore, she was a literal bitch. Do not try my patience with your ignorance again, woman. Answer me!"  
"Her name was Kurohana!"  
Sesshoumaru nodded as he heard the name, as if he were expecting that answer. "Very well, human. It occurs to me that we should hear how much of the ritual you know and how much of it you performed on Inuyasha."  
"Yeah! I want to know that one, myself!" Inuyasha was angry. "What did you do to me when I was pinned to the god tree?!"  
"Inuyasha?! Please don't be angry. What I did, I did for you! I was trying to wake you!"  
"Yukiho." Lady Mariko's quiet voice cut through to the girl. "Tell us your story from the beginning."  
Yukiho took a deep breath. She was about to begin when Daremo entered the garden, leading a still slightly dazed Miroku. He lead him to his circle of friends. Sesshoumaru looked at the monk with thinly veiled disgust. As Miroku took his seat, he looked at Sango and whispered, "What have I missed?"  
"Little, as yet, Monk." The answer came from Sesshoumaru, instead of Sango. "I trust you can maintain some sense of decorum while we listen to this human woman's explanation for her actions." His voice held a dangerous edge to it.  
Miroku looked at the demon lord and then sighed. He got up and moved to place Daremo between himself and Sango. When the others looked at him in puzzlement, he simply stated, "To remove temptation."  
Sesshoumaru turned his gaze from the monk to Yukiho. "Very well, woman. Begin."  
"When I first met Inuyasha, we were both very young, around six years of age. I thought that he was strange looking, at first. He had that long white hair and those cute ears. Inuyasha blushed at that remark. Kagome looked at him and smiled. "You do have cute ears." she whispered. I was very shy around him until the day he saved me from some bullies. He was so brave! There were three of them and they wanted me to give them the money that my mother had given me to buy food for supper with. They had me encircled when a blur of red came out of nowhere and knocked the largest one on his back. Inuyasha was on top of the boy and punched him in the face before he jumped off and landed next to me. He put out his arm to push me behind him and said, "Get behind me! I'll protect you!" He never took his eyes off my attackers. "So, you guys think you're pretty tough to pick on a girl three to one. Why don't you try that with me?" After he said that, he flexed his claws and the boys took to their heels screaming, "Demon!" and I was in love." Yukiho paused to look at Inuyasha and all could see that she wasn't exageratting. Kagome's heart ached in her chest. This girl truly loved her mate, and nothing good was going to come of this.  
Sesshoumaru folded his arms over his chest. "This is all very interesting, but you have not told us of your part in the ritual of binding."  
Yukiho sighed. "I'll skip ahead to when we heard rumors of an inu- youkai hanyou living in a province near here. When I heard, I knew that it had to be Inuyasha. I never believed that he had died with his mother and that someday he would come back to me. I left for the village that he was rumored to be at. But I arrived too late. I came to the village only a day after you had attacked it and had been pinned to the tree." Yukiho bowed her head and started crying. "When I had gotten to the village and had seen the destruction there, I asked about you and found out that you had caused all that had happened. That you had killed their miko, but not before she had killed you. I had come all that way to find you and you were dead! Or so I thought. Then a young girl with a bandage over one eye told the villagers that you were not dead, that her sister had only put you in a sleep spell." Yukiho took a shuddering breath. "I begged her to show you to me. This girl looked at me with her one good eye and then nodded. She led me to the tree that you were pinned to and I fell to the ground and wept. The girl said, "I didn't know that Inuyasha had had any friends other than my sister." I turned on the child, "Some friend! Why did she do this?" The girl, who until now had been stoic, began to cry. "He gave her the wound that killed her! And then he attacked the village to steal the Shikon no Tama! He had pretended to be our friend and had even pretended to love Kikyou, but in the end, he killed her!" A low growl began to issue from Inuyasha. Kagome laid a calming hand on his arm. Yukiho stopped her narrative and looked at Inuyasha. "Please, my love! I have to know! Did you kill her?"  
"No, I did not!" The words came out tersely, almost barked. "She was attacked by an evil hanyou named Naraku who had taken on my shape. And I was fooled into thinking that Kikyou had broken her promise to me, so I attacked the village to steal the Shikon no Tama."  
"And the other thing that she said, did you love her?"  
Inuyasha looked at Kagome before he replied. "We were two lonely souls that sought out each other. I loved her and she loved me, but our love wasn't strong enough to overcome our mistrust. We were easily fooled into believing that the other would betray what trust we had in each other."  
"I see." Yukiho said softly. "Didn't you think of me?"  
Inuyasha took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yukiho. You were from another time and place in my life, a place that was closed to me. I watched my grandfather die to save my life Lady Mariko gasped and said "No! Oh, no, no! My poor child!" and I had to leave everyone who meant anything to me except my mother. And then I watched her die and wasn't able to protect her. I could not come back for fear of watching other people I cared for die to protect me, so I lived like an animal for years. I had to steal food when I was younger. Later, I was able to hunt for myself and I had learned how to fight. And how to hate what I was. So, the answer is no, Yukiho, I didn't think about any of you. I didn't dare for fear that I would get the desire to return and that you would suffer for it."  
Yukiho bowed her head and cried for his answer and for the pain that he had gone through. Lady Mariko rose from her seat and went to her nephew, fell to her knees and embraced him, openly weeping. Kagome had moved aside to let Lady Mariko to Inuyasha, but she moved in behind him and laid her head on his back in a comforting gesture, her own eyes brimming with tears. This scene held for a few moments and then Yukiho cleared her throat to continue her narrative. Lady Mariko disengaged from her nephew but didn't return to her previous seat. Instead she moved to sit next to Inuyasha and to hold his hand in her's. Kagome stayed behind Inuyasha's back and kept her head on his back, lending silent support. Yukiho glared at her rival but continued her narrative.  
"I waited to be left alone with you and then I climbed the tree and put my arms around you. I put my head on your chest and cried .... and then I heard it! Your heart was beating! Very slowly, but it was there! I became frantic, I grabbed the arrow that had you pinned to the tree to try and pull it from you. That was a mistake. It blasted me off the tree. After I came to, I climbed up the tree again and listened to your heart again, but something was different. The heartbeat was slower! The arrow's spell was taking effect and you were losing your fight against it's influence! I had to think of something so I tried the only thing that might work. Please understand, Inuyasha! I wanted you to live so I decided that you needed the extra support of the binding. I hoped that the binding would give you the strength to overcome the arrow's spell." Yukiho looked at Sesshoumaru. "Okay, now to get to the part you wanted to know about. How much do you want me to tell, ... eh, what is your name anyway?"  
Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow at her. "Sesshoumaru. And you may tell all that you did and why."  
"Sesshoumaru?" Yukiho gulped. Visibly shaken by this revelation she continued, "Yes, my lord. I knew what I had to do. I used a knife that I carried on me for my defense to cut a gash in Inuyasha's arm and I ... I drank some of his blood." Her voice faltered for a moment as she revealed this, but she gathered herself and continued. "I cut my hand and tried to get some of my blood into Inuyasha. I wasn't sure if I was able to get any into him but I hoped that I did. The blood alone wasn't enough, though. It only acts as a beacon for the next step, the binding of souls."  
"What?!" came a cry in unison. Kagome had lifted her head from Inuyasha's back at the beginning of the description of the ritual. When Yukiho came to this part, she, Sango, Miroku, and Shippou cried out.  
Miroku was the first to recover his composure. "Are you saying that you bound Inuyasha's soul to your's!?"  
"And my soul to his!" continued Yukiho. "That is what gives me long life. My soul draws on the lifeforce of the youkai in Inuyasha. And it can't be broken except in death."  
Kagome's hands went to her mouth. "No!" she whispered. "No! No! No! NO!" Each no getting louder until the last ended in a scream. She turned from the group and ran from the garden sobbing.  
"Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha, as he leapt to his feet and followed her.  
Everyone else had a stricken look on their faces. Sango was openly crying for Kagome.  
"You are wrong, mortal woman." stated Sesshoumaru. "There are rumors of other ways to break the binding. You had best pray that they work." This said, Sesshoumaru turned and followed his brother to see if he could salvage this situation.  
  
A/N: I'm going to leave it there for the time being. ducks as people throw things at him And there is a lot more to come. By the way, just to satisfy anyone's curiousity, Kurohana means 'black flower'. The reason for this name will come up later. 


	26. Chapter Twentysix

Chapter Twenty-six  
  
A/N: Greetings. I have an announcement. Summer vacation has started. This means that my chapters will probably be farther apart. I will make an effort to keep them at one a week but I can make no promises. I have been getting requests for a sequel to 'Be Careful What You Say'. I am going to begin that in the near future. And my daughters have made a request of me. Since I have figured out what I was doing wrong to post my stories on Fanfiction, they want me to do a Harry Potter story that I had discussed with them. (They are in the story as exchange students, with me as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, teaching non-magic tactics to deal with magic attacks. And convincing students that muggles can be dangerous.) I can hear the laughter. Plus my wife is wanting me to begin on my novel, since that has a 'chance to make money' as she puts it. Thank you for the wonderful reviews. I appreciate all of them and I have been getting great reviews on Fanfiction, as well. I don't own Inuyasha. My oldest does own a rosary like his, except for the sit part. And, I must address a reviewer: there will never be any other pairing than Inuyasha/Kagome. Anything else is unnatural.  
  
Kagome didn't know where she was going, she just knew that she had to get out of that garden as fast as possible. Her eyes were filled with tears of pain, anger, and resentment. 'How could she do that to him? To us? She had no right to bind Inuyasha in such a way!' As she ran, fury and despair built inside of her. It seemed that the fates were against her and Inuyasha. When they surmounted one obstacle, another would rise up in it's place. Finally, she could run no more and she collapsed in room that she had run into. She hugged her knees to her chest and sobbed. 'It's not fair! I've done everything to have him. He's mine and I'm not going to let some old girlfriend take him from me now!' But a little doubt rose in the back of her mind. 'But what if I can't have him? What if this binding keeps us apart?' "What are we going to do?" she moaned to herself.  
"I don't know yet, but we'll think of something." came a voice from the door. Inuyasha stepped into the room and gathered Kagome into his arms as he sank to the floor next to her. "My soul may be bound to her, but my heart is yours, Kagome. And that won't change."  
Kagome leaned into his embrace and sobbed against his chest. After she had calmed she lifted her head to look into her beloved's eyes. "Inuyasha, is there any way to break the binding?"  
"I don't know of anything other than death and I'm not ready to kill Yukiho over this just yet."  
"Of course not! I wouldn't suggest that though I felt like killing her when she told us that she had bound your soul. I think I understand what she was trying to do but it was still wrong. It's almost like she raped you or something."  
Inuyasha shuddered. "Yeah. It does feel strange and it does explain some things."  
"Like what?"  
"Well, I haven't felt exactly the same as I did before I was pinned to the tree. I just assummed that it was because I had been sleeping for fifty years, but now I see it for what it was."  
Kagome raised her eyebrow in question.  
"Well, it's kind of like a drain on me. Sometimes I would feel a little off, not weak or tired, just not on top of everything. It's hard to explain."  
"And you think that was because of her binding to your soul?"  
"That would be the pluasible explanation." Sesshoumaru's voice came from the doorway.  
"And just what do you know about it?" asked the irate Inuyasha.  
"More than you would believe, brother." Sesshoumaru regarded his brother for a moment. "You do realize that the easiest course of action would be to dispose of this human who has bound you to her. I could do that if you are too squemish about slaying a human."  
"No, Sesshoumaru." protested Kagome. "I won't allow you to kill her. She may have done something wrong, but she had good intentions."  
'You won't allow me to kill her? Your audacity never ceases to amaze me little miko.' Sesshoumaru thought. He regarded her in silence for a moment. "Good intentions are no excuse. Many people have had good intentions, but it didn't save them from hell."  
Kagome blinked at the closeness to the old adage that Sesshoumaru had come. 'I know that I've never said that around him! The saying must be even older than I thought.' She pushed the errant thought aside. 'I have more important things to think about than an old idiom!' "I still don't want her dead. It might hurt Inuyasha."  
"Feh!"  
"Perhaps and perhaps not. Our father survived a broken life bound when my mother died and then took Inuyasha's mother as his mate. Our blood is strong enough to survive the death of a mate."  
Inuyasha looked at his brother. Something about the way he said that made him think that he knew that their blood was strong enough, and not because of family pride.  
"I still don't want to take that chance. Are there any other ways to break the bond?"  
"There may be a way. I have heard of rumors that a bond can be broken if certain conditions are met."  
"And what are those conditions? I don't like the idea that my soul is tied to someone I don't want it to be tied to."  
"Before I tell you of the conditions, I believe we need to return to the garden. I must have certain information that only this human woman can provide."  
"Think you can handle it Kagome?"  
"Yes, I can handle it. The main reason I left the garden was to keep from tearing that wench apart! Inuyasha snorted I want to find out how to get this woman out of our lives."  
  
Yukiho started to follow Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru but was stopped by Miroku's staff.  
"I believe that they need time alone." he stated, flatly.  
"Yukiho, you have some explaining to do." Lady Mariko sounded very upset.  
"Indeed." Lord Genki did not sound pleased with Yukiho. "You have lived with us for all these years with us under the impression that you were Inuyasha's mate."  
"But I am his mate!"  
"He is bound to you by a mating ritual. It is not the same thing and you know it!" Sango was vehement in her reply. "He does not love you!"  
"He does! I know that deep down, he still loves me."  
"That is not all that you need to explain." Lord Genki was still very angry.  
Yukiho blanched. "My lord, please forgive me, but can I wait to explain that until Inuyasha comes back. I want to tell him this first. Then I will tell all of you."  
"Yukiho, you have hidden much from us as it is. We deserve an answer."  
Sango and Miroku were mystified. What else could she be hiding?  
"I know, my lord." Yukiho was on the verge of tears. "I have never lied to you. You must believe me."  
Before Genki could reply to that, a figure appeared in the doorway to the garden. "Mom!" the figure called, and then rushed to Yukiho's side with inhuman speed. The figure was a young woman. On closer examination, a young inu-youkai hanyou woman. She had black hair that was as long as Inuyasha's and the black ears on top of her head that marked her as a hanyou. "I heard that you had fainted, mom. Are you alright?"  
"Yes, dearest, I'm fine. I just recieved a shock and I fainted." She smiled at the concerned look in her daughters eyes. "I'm fine!"  
"And who is this lovely creature?" asked Miroku. His face had taken on that look that he gets around beautiful women. And Sango's face was taking on that look that she gets when he gets around beautiful women!  
Jaken, who had been in the background during all the excitement, looked at the young hanyou woman and paled. "Takara!" he whispered, hoarsely.  
The woman's ears twitched on her head, and she turned to face the toad demon. "Why, yes! That is my name. How did you know it?"  
Jaken's face paled even more and he began to rock in place and moan.  
Rin had stayed near to Jaken because she knew that her lord would want her to stay near to the toad demon. She was looking at him in concern. "Jaken?" she asked, tentatively. "Are you alright, Jaken-sama?"  
Jaken gulped loudly and tore his eyes from Takara's face. "I have to find Lord Sesshoumaru!" he all but shrieked and spun towards the door that Sesshoumaru had exited earlier. Before he could get out the door though, Sesshoumaru appeared there with Inuyasha and Kagome.  
"I am here, Jaken. What is it that you..." he broke off when he caught sight of Takara. He stiffened and his face went white. "Who are you?" he demanded, in a low growl.  
"That is not a very polite way to ask a person's name." said Takara, with a cocked eyebrow.  
"I asked you you're name. Give it to me."  
"Very well. My name is Takara."  
Sesshoumaru's face got even paler. Inuyasha was staring at his brother and was starting to become concerned. Nothing had ever rattled Sesshoumaru like this, not even losing his arm!  
Miroku chose this moment to begin his antics. "Ah, Takara! An appropriate name for a lovely woman for you are indeed a treasure. Would you do me the honor of bearing my child?" he asked, taking her hand in his.  
No one expected the next reaction. Sesshoumaru growled in rage and leaped at Miroku with every intent of tearing him limb from limb. Only Inuyasha's reflexes were enough to tackle Sesshoumaru before he reached the very startled monk. "Keep your filthy hands off of her!" he raved. Sesshoumaru struggled against Inuyasha's grip and then broke free. Inuyasha placed himself between Sesshoumaru and Miroku. Lord Genki's guards had come up to encircle the group and to get between the enraged demon and their lord. Sesshoumaru backed off and circled until he was between Miroku and Takara. She had a very surprised look on her face.  
"Eh, look. I appreciate your concern for me but I can handle people like him. I've been doing it for years." She cocked her head to one side. "Besides, why should you care? You don't know me."  
Sesshoumaru turned his head to look at the hanyou girl more closely. His eyes traveled from her face to her feet and back until they came to rest on her ears. He took a deep breath and shook himself. His face took on a calmer look, relaxing back into it's normal expression of cool dispassion. "Indeed." he answered. "You are correct. I don't know you."  
Lord Genki was in a quandary. He did not wish to offend the visiting demon lord and yet this action needed to be addressed. "Lord Sesshoumaru." he said, to get the demon's attention. He cleared his throat. "Would you care to explain your actions?"  
"No, I would not." Sesshoumaru looked at Takara again before speaking to Genki again. "I will be in the main audiance chamber. Send a servant there to escort me to my room at the inn. We will continue this interview with the human woman who has bound Inuyasha at a later time."  
"You presume much, Lord Sesshoumaru. This is my house."  
Sesshoumaru looked at Lord Tanaka with cool appraisal. He nodded his head in acknowledgement of the implied rebuke. "In light of my actions, I would ask your pardon for my lack of courtesy. I am accustomed to treating humans as inferiors, not equals. Now, I need to take my leave so that I may regain complete control of myself. " Without waiting for a reply from Lord Genki, Sesshoumaru turned on his heel and started to leave the chamber. Kagome stopped him.  
"Sesshoumaru?" He stopped but didn't turn to face her. "Are you alright? Can we help?"  
"Thank you for your concern, little miko, but some wounds cannot be healed." Without another word, Sesshoumaru left the chamber.  
"What was that all about?" Miroku was shaking slightly in reaction. The rage on Sesshoumaru's face had been directed at him and it hadn't been a pleasant sight.  
"Damned if I know. He was acting like he was protecting a mate or something. My brother has always been a little crazy, if you ask me."  
Jaken, who had been watching his lord's retreat, spun on Inuyasha in anger. "Don't say that about my lord. You don't know what he has endured or what that girl reminded him of!" Jaken bit off any further remarks. Any other information was his lord's to give, not his.  
"Spill it, Jaken. What set Sesshoumaru off like that?"  
"Indeed, Jaken. I do not wish to offend him again."  
Jaken snorted. "Like I care." He sighed. "Let's just say that the girl and her name remind him of someone and leave it at that. Keep your hands and comments to yourself and stay out of his way and maybe you'll live. Anything else you want to know, you'll have to ask him." Jaken turned to follow his lord. "Come on, Rin. Our lord needs us."  
"Coming Jaken." Rin turned to Shippou. "We'll see each other later. Bye."  
Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, and Sango looked at each other then at Takara and Yukiho. Takara had moved to stand next to her mother.  
"Okay Takara, something about you would set of my brother like that. He acted very wierd, even for him."  
"I have no idea, but he knew my name and so did that little toad demon."  
"And your sure you've never met him?"  
"I've never left this city. I have lived with my mother in the manor for my whole life."  
"So, Yukiho. Is this the child you told us of?" Miroku asked this question as he watched Kagome to see how she was reacting to this daughter of Yukiho's.  
"Yes, she is. And it is alright to speak about her adoption, she knows that I didn't give birth to her."  
"Yes, I know. And I love her just as if she had given birth to me. She took me in when anyone else would have left me to die."  
"Well, I couldn't leave her to die, not with her parents as my friends and with me being mated to a hanyou."  
"I AM NOT YOUR MATE!" roared Inuyasha.  
Takara looked at him in amazement. "Not your mate?! You mean you're Inuyasha?! Mother has told me all about you! She has been so lonely without you! How can you say that you aren't her mate? Did you forget that she was mated to you before that miko pinned you to a tree? We'll have to get you to remember! Mom's really great and she will make you very happy."  
Inuyasha was getting a shell-shocked look. He didn't know a girl could talk so fast. Her next statement froze his blood, though.  
"We have to tell Inutaro! He will be so pleased!"  
Inuyasha turned his head, slowly, to face Yukiho. "Inutaro?" he asked, very low, almost a whisper. "Who is Inutaro?"  
Yukiho paled and bowed her head. Her face had turned very pale. "Inuyasha. There is something I need to tell you."  
Kagome was getting a very bad feeling. 'I'm not running out, this time. I don't care what she says, I am not going to leave Inuyasha's side!'  
Takara was looking at her mother in amazement. "Mom! Aren't you going to tell him?"  
"Takara, there is more here than meets the eye." Yukiho couldn't look at her daughter. "I haven't told you the whole truth about me and Inuyasha."  
"Mom, you're scaring me!" The Hanyou girl was getting a confused look on her face. "What's going on?"  
Before she could answer, they heard running footsteps in the hall. A young man came to a skidding halt in the doorway and rushed into the room. "Mom!" he yelled. "I got here as fast as I could. Are you alright?"  
Inuyasha and his friends stared at the new arrival in shock. It was hard to say what they noticed about him most. Maybe it was his hair; it was waist length, gray and tied into a pony tail. Maybe it was his eyes, they were streaked amber and brown. Or maybe it was his ears. They were on the sides of his head, like human ears, but they weren't human, nor were they dog ears like Inuyasha's and Takara's. They were swept up in a graceful curve, like an elves, and covered in gray fur.  
"Inutaro!" called Takara. "Come here! There's someone here you have got to meet."  
Inutaro ran to his mother's side. When he got there, he looked at the assembled group in front of his mother. "Mom? Who are these people?" His hand went to the hilt of his sword when he looked at the faces Inuyasha and his friends. Inuyasha face was pale with anger. Kagome's face was pale with shock. Miroku's face was impassive, but he had grounded his staff and was holding it in front of him with both hands as if he were making ready to use it. Sango was behind Kagome and had her hands on her shoulder's, lending support.  
"Yukiho." Inuyasha's voice was low and full of threat. "Who is this?"  
Yukiho had a look of shame on her face, until she looked at Kagome. Then she straightened and looked her straight in the eye. "Inuyasha," Inutaro's eyebrows shot up, "I would like you to meet your son." she finished in triumph, thinking to herself, 'Take that, witch! I told you he was my mate and I am not letting him go!'  
  
A/N: Finally! Man, this has been a hard one to write. It has gone through two rewrites because I didn't like the flow. It still seems a little off, but I think that it will be alright. I am going to try and tie up some loose ends in the next chapter, like how Inutaro could be Inuyasha's son. By the way, -taro means strong or first born son, so Inutaro means Inu's first born son. Takara means treasure. This story has a lot left to it, so please be patient while I get it sorted out and written. One other thing, this story had been posted on Mediaminer before I started posting it on Fanfiction, I have now caught up with where my story is there. It will be longer between chapters now and I just wanted to warn everyone of that.Adios! 


	27. Chapter Twentyseven

Chapter Twenty-seven

**A/N: Hi, folks. It has been a long dry spell but I'm back. I would like to thank all of my reviewers on both MediaMiner and Fanfiction. I have recieved over 300 reveiews apiece for this story and for my other story when you combine both sets of reviews. I would have written these stories without the reviews since writing these fanfics is something I do for the pleasure of it and for the opportuninity to increase my writing skill. It is very gratifying to have, not one but two, stories that are this well recieved, and I hope that I continue to live up to your expectations. I never expected this kind of response to my writing and I am extremely grateful. Now, for the disclaimer, I don't own Inuyasha. **

Jaken trotted up the hall looking for his master. He was very worried for his lord. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" he called. "I have got to find him." he thought, aloud.

"Jaken-sama? What's wrong with milord?" asked Rin, as she followed behind him.

"It's a long and sad story, Rin. You are too young to hear all of it." He paused and looked at the girl who followed his lord everywhere he went. "I will tell you this much. That girl back there, Takara, reminds our lord of someone that was very special to him." Jaken's face grew very sad. "She was special to all of us that knew her."

Rin looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "She died, didn't she, Jaken-sama."

"Yes, child. She died." Jaken closed his eyes and the scene of his lord finding the bodies of his mate and daughter played in his head. 'And a piece of my lord died that day, too.' He shook himself out of his revery and began trotting down the hall again.

Sesshoumaru stood in the audience chamber. He stared at nothing in silence, brooding over who he had seen and what he had done in reaction. 'This Sesshoumaru could have handled it better. Baka! Baka! Baka! You know that Takara is dead and you know that that girl in there was not her and yet you acted as if you were some love struck, overprotective adolescent. There is no telling what she thinks of you.' That thought brought him up short. Why did he care what she thought of him? He didn't know her! 'Baka!' He took a deep breath to calm himself. He was beginning to get worked up, again. The resemblance to his dead mate was striking, to be sure, and to share the same name was unnerving. 'Then, again, if she is who I think she is, perhaps it is not so strange at that.' Sesshoumaru mulled it over. The facts were that she was the adopted daughter of this human who had laid claim to Inuyasha. Her mother's name was Kurohana and had mated to a human. He only knew of one inu-youkai demoness that had done that with that name. 'Interesting that I should find the child of my mate's sister. She must have named her child Takara for my mate.' He sighed. "I suppose that I am her uncle.", he mused

'But not by blood.' came a voice in his head.

"That is not a consideration. She is a hanyou, after all."

'She is a beautiful woman, in the image of your dead love. Being a hanyou is something that you can overlook.'

'Silence!' Sesshoumaru shouted in his mind to his subconcious. 'I will not consider such a thing.'

'Perhaps you won't. But, then again, perhaps you will.'

"I said, 'Silence!" Sesshoumaru growled.

"But, my lord, we haven't spoken!" came a high pitched voice in protest.

Sesshoumaru turned to see Jaken and Rin in the door that he had come in earlier. "Then continue to not speak."

"Yes, milord."

Rin approached Sesshoumaru and tentatively took his hand. Sesshoumaru looked down at the child in surprise. "What is it, Rin?"

"Is milord alright? Can Rin do anything to make milord better?"

"I am fine, Rin."

"Did the pretty lady with the ears upset you milord?"

Sesshoumaru's lips quirked up in a slight smile at Rin's description of Takara. "No, Rin. She didn't upset me. That hentai monk that my brother travels with did."

"That's good, milord. She's too pretty to get very mad at."

Sesshoumaru said nothing for a moment then turned and walked for the door that Jaken and Rin had just come in.

"My lord? Where are you going? The inn is this way." Jaken was pointing toward the door on the other side of the audience chamber.

"I am well aware of that, Jaken. I am returning to the garden. Attend me."

"But, milord .... _sigh_ .... Yes, milord." Jaken gestured to Rin. "I don't think anything good is going to come of this." Jaken grumbled.

"Milord wants to see the pretty lady again." Rin sang as she skipped ahead.

"That's what I'm afraid of." replied Jaken, but he was speaking to thin air. Quickly, he stepped up his pace to catch up to his lord.

"Inuyasha, I would like you to meet your son."

These words seemed to echo in Inuyasha's ears. They flattened to his head and he let out a low growl. "You lie, Yukiho!" he rasped. "I never mated with you!"

"Inuyasha! Look at him! He is your son!"

Inutaro was feeling confused. At first, he was surprised to hear that this hanyou in front of him was none other than the man that his mother had told him was his father. He was beginning to feel elated that he would finally meet the man who had sired him when Inuyasha began to act very strangely, growling and then stating that he had never mated with his mother. If that were true, then Inuyasha wasn't his father. But, if Inuyasha was his father, as his mother was insisting, then how come Inuyasha didn't remember mating with his mother. Inutaro's face hardened. Maybe his father had just used his mother to satisfy his lusts and left, never expecting to be presented with a child at a later date. While he was having this internal debate, he noticed the pale faced young woman who shook off the hands of another woman behind her.

"You did it, didn't you?" she asked in a quiet voice.

'Did what?' he thought, looking at his mother. He was surprised to see a look of shame on her face. 'What in the seven hells is going on here?' he thought.

"Answer me!" shouted the young woman. "You had sex with him while he was pinned to that tree, didn't you?!"

'While he was pinned to the tree?' Inutaro was beginning to get a sick feeling.

"He was my mate!" Yukiho shouted back. "It was my duty and right ...." That was as far as she got before the young woman launched herself at his mother. Instinctively protective of his mother, he started to grab her when he found himself slammed against the wall, held by the throat by a clawed hand.

"Don't touch her!" came the very feral growl from Inuyasha. "I don't care if you are my son, if you harm Kagome I will rip your throat out myself."

"ENOUGH!" All eyes went to Genki. He stood, shaking in rage and holding his weeping mother. "Yukiho and Kagome, you will seperate now, or be seperated. Inuyasha! Release Inutaro!"

"And what if I refuse?"

Genki drew himself up and made a gesture to his men-at-arms. "Do not mistake me, Inuyasha. You are my cousin and I have missed you sorely, but I will have order in my house! This is not a tavern and I will not have my family and guests brawling like common thugs. If you do not release Inutaro, I will order my men to take you into custody."

"Like they could stop me."

Lady Mariko looked at Inuyasha through her tears. "Please, Inu-chan. Do as Genki says. There has been enough pain for one day."

For a moment, it looked as if Inuyasha would ignore even his aunt's plea. Then he reluctantly released Inutaro.

Inutaro gasped for a moment and rubbed his throat. "I would not have harmed her. I only wanted to protect my mother."

Before Inuyasha could reply, Genki spoke again. "Daremo!"

Daremo was imediately at his lord's side. "Yes, my lord?"

Genki suddenly looked old. The next order he spoke was not without pain, but was necessary. "Take Yukiho into custody." Takara and Inutaro both gasped.

"No, my Lord Tanaka. Please."

"I am sorry, Takara, but your mother has admitted to things that I cannot ignore. She has lived here under false pretenses and has done acts on a member of this house that can be seen as enslavement. She has admitted to the rape of a member of this house."

At the word rape, Inuyasha paled. Kagome, who had seperated from Yukiho as ordered, began to cry. Sango looked at Yukiho with enough hatred to kill. Miroku took on a stoic, emotionless demenor. Shippou came up to Kagome and held up his arms to be held. As she picked him up, tears still rolling down her face, he asked, "Mama-Kagome? Are you alright? Is Papa-Inu alright?"

Inuyasha, who had been standing without making a noise, looked at Yukiho and then looked at Inutaro. As he stared at Inutaro's face, he could see some of his own face staring back at him. His expression told of the turmoil in his heart. Yukiho began crying when she looked at his pain. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha. But I was afraid that you would be gone and I would have nothing of you so I made sure that a piece of you would always be with me."

Inutaro gaped at his mother. "You mean it's true?!"

"Please let me explain, my son."

"NO!" Inutaro screamed. "Mother, how could you do this? How could you lie...." He didn't complete his sentence. With an inarticulate scream of rage and pain, he spun from his mother and ran from the room.

"Inutaro! Wait!" Yukiho made to follow her son but was prevented by Daremo. "Daremo, please! I have to talk to him. I have to explain what I did so that he will understand!"

"No, Yukiho." Genki suddenly appeared in front of her. "You have to explain what you did so that I may understand. Daremo, take her to the audience chamber." He turned to Kagome. "I am sorry, Kagome. If I had known that this was going to happen, I would have left Inuyasha in peace. Inuyasha..." Genki turned to express his regret to his cousin but he wasn't there. "Damn." he muttered.

"Mama-Kagome? Where did Pap-Inu go? Is he going to be alright?"

Kagome held Shippou close and began crying again. Sango came up behind her and encicled her with her arms. Miroku came in from the front and put her head on his shoulder and kept his hands to himself. Finally, Kagome answered the little kitsune, "I don't know Shippou. I don't know if any of us are going to be alright." After she said this, she buried her head in Miroku's shoulder and wept.

**A/N: Okay. I know that some of you were expecting more after such a long dry spell but I decided to keep it at this length. _ducks the thrown objects_ Don't worry. My kids are back in school so I will be updating on a more regular schedule. You guys take it easy.**


	28. Chapter Twentyeight

Chapter Twenty-eight

**A/N: Greetings and salutations! It feels good to be writing again. I hope that I haven't lost my creative edge during my absence. Oh well, we shall soon see. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews. I take a lot of pleasure in the knowledge that you like my work. I hope that I continue to please and entertain you. This story is taking longer than I originally planned it to. It has taken on a life of it's on and sometimes seems to be writing itself. I am not sure how much longer it will be as I still have several unresolved issues. I know how I want to resolve them, for the most part, but I keep getting new ideas. _sigh_ Enough of my troubles, on to the obligatory disclaimer. I don't own Inuyasha, but I will soon own an English translation for the first Inuyasha movie. It is set for release in the US the seventh of September. The second movie is set for release on the twenty-eighth of December. And now, 'Exit, stage left, and on with the show, even!' (Good luck getting that reference!)**

Inuyasha saw the forest a few hundred feet from the garden as he went over the wall. He became a brown blur as he ran for the comfort of the trees. His brain was in overload and he was acting on his instinct to get into a place that he could lose himself. When he hit the edge of the forest, he leapt into the branches of the first tree that he came to and began leaping from tree to tree, going deeper into the forest. He stopped in a small clearing and looked around him, his chest heaving with emotion. With a wild look in his eyes, he suddenly attacked the nearest tree with a scream of rage. After the first tree fell to his claws, he attacked another. And another. And another. Finally, his rage spent, he fell to his knees and began to weep. He threw back his head in grief and screamed, "Why?", and then fell forward beating the ground with his fists. Each punch was punctuated with the question of ,"Why? Dammit, why?" After a few minutes of this, he sat back up with a groan and took a deep breath. That's when he noticed the tree that stood above all the others. Never taking his eyes off his new found goal, he surged off the ground and headed for the comfort of the highest branches of this towering tree.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inutaro fled the garden of his great-aunt with unshed tears blurring his vision. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the confession from his mother that had shattered his world. As he left the manor, he headed straight for the forest that had been his comfort through the years. From his earliest childhood, he had taken comfort in the quiet solitude that one could find in a forest. Even though his father had been the cousin to the lord, he still had been persecuted for being a hanyou. Fortunately, because of the sentiments of Lord Tanaka and Lady Mariko, the taunts were kept at just that, taunts. Anything more would have earned the displeasure of the lord and that was unwise. His father. 'Isn't that a damn joke?' he thought. All these years he had dreamed of meeting the man that his mother had described with such love and when he finally does meet him all his dreams turned to nightmares. When he hit the edge of the forest, he drew his sword and began taking out his frustrations on the limbs and saplings. He did not swing wildly; he maintained the discipline that had been taught him by Daremo's father. Each swing was perfectly timed with his steps as he ran. He had a certain destination in mind and as he neared it, he stopped to sheath his sword and catch his breath. As he stood there, panting, he leaned his head back so that he faced the sky and said, in great pain, "Why, mother, why?" He bowed his head forward and let the tears fall from his eyes as he made his way to his place of comfort, the tree that stood above all the others, his tree.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inuyasha climbed to the highest branches that would bear his weight then settled back against the trunk. He stared at the sky, seeing nothing. He felt as if his head would explode from the thoughts that were running wild within it. 'What was she thinking? How did she manage to... oh Kami-sama, I don't even want to go there!' That thought made him sick but it made him wonder what else could have happened to him. 'What else did she do to me? Did she stop at ... using ... me or did she do something else?' Then another line of thought came to his mind. 'I'm glad that Kagome and I haven't. Now, leaving her won't be as hard on her. Yyeeaahhh, rrighht. Kagome won't let me go. She could forgive me anything, even this.' His subconcious pipped in, 'What do you mean forgive you? Forgive you of what?'

'Haven't you been paying attention? Some woman had sex with me! And now we have a child!'

'Oh, that. Kagome doesn't have to forgive you for that, you baka! YOU did nothing wrong. It's not like you enjoyed it. You don't remember it.'

'But, I should have been able to stop it! My body shouldn't have reacted to her!'

'And just how were you supposed to keep that from happening? YOU WERE ASLEEP! And, you know that _ahem_ certain things happen when you're asleep.'

'That doesn't happen unless I'm dreaming about Kagome.'

'Uh-huh. Tell another one. You forget that I'm always with you and there was a time when you couldn't wake up in the morning without parts of you waking up first. Just because you dream about Kagome on a nightly basis now doesn't mean that it didn't happen before you met her.'

'Now, look here...' Inuyasha's internal argument was interupted by a noise below him. He looked over the edge of the limb to see Inutaro settling on a limb below him. "Why that dirty sneak." he muttered and dropped to the limb that Inutaro was sitting on.

As Inuyasha landed, Inutaro nearly jumped out of his skin. His hand went to his sword hilt, preparing to draw his sword when he realized who had dropped in on him. He glared at Inuyasha. "What are you doing in my tree?" he snarled.

"Your tree?" retorted Inuyasha, "I was here first! What are you doing following me?"

"Yes. My tree. I've been coming to this tree for over forty years, so that makes it mine! And I wasn't following you."

"What ever! I was still here first, so get out of here!"

Inutaro started to growl back a challenge, then thought about what had happened in the last hour. "Very well, Father. I'll leave since you can't stand the sight of me." This was said with bitter disappointment.

"DON'T call me father. And don't put words into my mouth. I never said that I couldn't stand the sight of you."Inuyasha got a surprised look on his face. 'Oh, man!' he thought. 'I've been around Kagome so long, I'm getting soft.'

"But, but don't you hate me because of what mother did?" Inutaro looked at Inuyasha hopefully and yet fearing what he might hear.

Inuyasha snorted. "I hate what Yukiho did. I don't know you, so how could I hate you. But," Inuyasha continued when he saw the look of hope on Inutaro's face, "that doesn't mean I love you either. Like I said, I don't know you enough to form an opinion yet."

Inutaro was crestfallen, but he saw the sense of his father's words. He changed the subject. "Why don't you want me to call you father? You are, you know."

Inuyasha growled in frustration. "Look, in the space of one day, I went from a man looking for his aunt and cousin, to a man who has found out that he has a mate that he knew nothing about. Add the fact that there is a son that was conceived without my knowledge or consent and the fact that he looks older than me..... you begin to get the idea. You might be my son, but having you call me father is just too creepy."

"So what do you want me to call you?"

"Just call me 'Inuyasha' for now."

"Okay....Inuyasha."

An uncomfortable silence came between them. Finally, Inuyasha broke the silence by asking, "So, you like to climb trees?"

Inutaro was startled by the question and then began to laugh. "Apparently, I come by it honest."

Inuyasha smiled slightly. "Yeah. I guess you do."

"So, Fath ... uhm ... Inuyasha, what do we do now?"

_groan_ "I guess we go back and try and sort this mess out. Much as I hate to say it, maybe one of the others has an idea that we can use. _hunh_ I'm even desperate enough to listen to Sesshoumaru."

Inutaro stiffened. "Sesshoumaru? Isn't he the demon lord of the west?"

"Unless there's another one."

"And you know him?"

_snort_ "You could say that. He's my brother."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sesshoumaru had almost made it back to the garden when Daremo emerged with Yukiho, her hands tied in front of her with the sash from her robe. They were followed by a crying Takara and Lady Mariko. One of Sesshoumaru's eyebrows lifted as they passed, but he made no comment. He continued to the garden to find Kagome in Miroku's arms with Sango holding her from behind. "It appears that much has happened during my absence." he said to himself.

"That is an understatement, Lord Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru turned his head to see Lord Tanaka standing beside the door. The lord's former jovial appearance was gone and had been replaced with a more careworn look. "If I may inquire?"

"As it concerns your brother, you may. We just had another very startling revelation." Genki took a deep breath. "Apparently, Yukiho was not content with just taking Inuyasha as a mate without his consent, she also conceived a son by him without his consent."

Sesshoumaru stood very still as he digested this piece of news. "In other words, she raped my brother." he stated in a very quiet voice.

Genki nodded. "That's when I had Daremo place her under arrest. She must give a full account of what she has done and then I must judge her."

"Do not concern yourself with her judgement. She will not live to hear it." Sesshoumaru turned to follow Daremo and administer his judgement.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! You will not interfere!"

Sesshoumaru turned his head and regarded Lord Tanaka over his shoulder. "You tread on dangerous ground, Lord Tanaka. I am the demon lord of the west and my judgements are final. This foul excuse for a woman has cast shame on the honor of my family. I will tolerate no interferance."

Lord Tanaka's eyes narrowed in anger. "You forget yourself, Lord Sesshoumaru. This is my house, my province. And, Inuyasha is in my family, as well. It is for me to make judgements, not you."

"Please, stop fighting."

Both lords turned to see that Kagome had walked up to them. She was still holding Shippou. Miroku and Sango were behind her. "Please, Lord Sesshoumaru, don't harm Yukiho. We don't know what affect it will have on Inuyasha and I don't want to see him hurt over what that woman has done."

Sesshoumaru regarded her for a moment and then inclined his head. "I will suspend my judgement, for the time being. But, I warn you, Lord Tanaka, once Inuyasha is free of this woman, I expect full satisfaction." Sesshoumaru started to leave the garden when he stopped. "I would assume that my brother did not take the news of his son well."

"None of us did." snapped Sango.

"He went over the wall, if that's what you're wondering." stated Kagome. "He probably went somewhere to think things through."

"Thinking has never been one of Inuyasha's strengths. Knowing him, he probably went somewhere to destroy some trees." Miroku held up a hand at the glare from Kagome and Sango. "After he has demolished a few trees, he will seek out the tallest he can find and then think." Miroku looked at the women. "You know that I am right." Both women sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Then that is were I shall seek him out." Sesshoumaru prepared to jump over the garden wall. Kagome's voice held him back.

"Wait, Lord Sesshoumaru. I want to go with you. He needs me."

Kagome waited while Sesshoumaru seemed to think it over. He then made a gesture for her to stand beside him. When she had made her way to his side, he suddenly stooped slightly and picked her up with his one arm the way a man picks up a child. Startled, she threw her arms around his neck and Shippou scampered to her shoulder. He said nothing as he leapt to the top of the wall. Once there, he paused to take in a deep breath through his nose. He indicated the forest about one hundred paces from the garden wall. "His scent leads toward that forest." In the distance, they could see one tree above the others. "If the monk's words are correct, then Inuyasha will be at that tree." Sesshoumaru jumped to the ground and began running toward the tree with Kagome and Shippou holding on for dear life.

Miroku, Sango, and Genki watched them go over the wall and then looked at each other. Before they could speak, a voice interrupted their thoughts. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" the high pitched voice called. "Sorry to fall behind, milord, but Rin had to, _eh_, well, never mind what Rin had to do. Lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken came into the garden at a trot, callng for his lord. Rin was right behind him. Jaken looked over the scene before him. "Hey! Where is Lord Sesshoumaru? What have you done with him, you miserable humans?"

Miroku picked up his staff and silently said a prayer for patience. "Lord Sesshoumaru took Kagome and Shippou and went looking for Inuyasha."

_huh_ "And why would he go looking for Inuyasha?"

_groan_ "Sango? Would you please take Rin so that I can explain this to Jaken without her hearing? I think that she is a little young to understand."

"To be sure. Rin? Come with me, please. Let's go play with Kirara."

Rin smiled in delight. "I would love to." she told Sango, holding out her hand to take Sango's hand.

As Sango led the little girl away, Jaken looked at Miroku, crossly. "Okay. Now, what is going on?"

_sigh_ "Sit down, Jaken. This is going to take a few minutes." This said, Miroku began telling the toad demon all that had happened after he had left the garden the first time.

**A/N: Well, that's all for now. I'll be updating next week, so until then, take care and God bless. See ya'.**


	29. Chapter Twentynine

Chapter Twenty-nine

**A/N: I have been chastised. My apologies for the delay in posting, but, as they say, life happens while you were making other plans. Nothing earth shattering, just an extended work schedule. And I must admit that I got a little lazy. And one other thing. I know that some of you will be amused to know that I am hooked on Diablo II: Lord of Destrustion. That said, pardon me while I take a moment to thank my reviewers. Inugirlteen, SimplyALady, LunaML, PJ, MijaMarianne, PhoenixFire17, Caliko, Sweden's Pride, Valese, Dragon Man 180 and the anonimous 'New Fan' have all been regular reviewers and I have greatly appreciated their support. One of my new fans, Split Chick, gave a very enthusiastic review for this fic. I hope that she likes my other stories as well as this one. There are many others that I wish I could remember, but take heart, all your reviews are appreciated. By the way, to Split Chick: Takara is Sesshoumaru's niece, by marriage. Her mother was his mate's sister and Takara is a dead ringer for his mate, except for the ears. And she was born after the death of Sesshoumaru's mate. As some of you may have noticed, I have begun the sequel to 'Be Careful What You Say'. That means that I shall be dividing my time between it and this story, plus one other. I promised my mate that I would begin on my novel so that shall be taking up my time as well. Never fear, though, I will NEVER abandon a story. That said, it is time for me to make my disclaimer and get on with this shindig. I don't own Inuyasha, but my malamute just had six pups that will probably have his ears!**

Jaken's beak of a mouth was open in astonishment. He stared at Miroku and then at Lord Tanaka. Finally, his mouth snapped shut. He shook his head, as if to clear it and then spoke. "So, you're telling me that this Yukiho woman not only did a ritual of binding on Inuyasha but she actually bred with him while he was pinned to the Goshinboku?"

"Yes, Jaken." replied Miroku, patiently.

"And you told Lord Sesshoumaru this?"

"Yes, Jaken."

_hunh_ "Well, you will soon be less one annoying human woman. Lord Sesshoumaru will look at this as a stain on his family honor, even though it happened to a hanyou."

"We gathered that much." Lord Tanaka interjected, drily. "He was prepared to execute Yukiho when the Lady Kagome asked him to wait until they knew if it would harm Inuyasha or not."

_gasp _"NO!" came a voice from the door. The three turned to see Takara standing there. "Please, my lord Genki! Don't allow Lord Sesshoumaru to kill my mother."

"Takara." It pained Genki to say these next words, especially to the girl that he helped raise, but she needed to hear them. "I'm not sure that I won't be ordering her execution myself. Your mother has commited heinous acts against a member of my family."

"But she is a member of your family, too!" wailed Takara.

"I know. And I must distance myself from this to give a just sentence." Genki sighed. "And then there is Lord Sesshoumaru to consider. He is a very proud youkai. His family has been affronted, too."

"Then I must plead with him for mercy for my mother." Takara bent down on one knee in front of Jaken. "Your name is Jaken, yes?"

Jaken gulped. 'Even her eyes are the same!' he thought, desparately. "Y,y,yes, it is." he stammered.

Takara smiled at him through her tears. "Please, Jaken. Take me to your lord so that I may plead my mother's case."

Jaken closed his eyes. "Madam, once my lord decides on an action, he rarely changes his mind."

"Just take me to him, so that I can speak with him." Takara reached out a hand to touch Jaken on the shoulder.

The little toad demon shuddered. "Lady Takara. If any one could get him to change his mind, it would be you. Lord Sesshoumaru could never resist you." Suddenly, Jaken's eyes flew wide open as he realized what he had said.

Takara was looking at Jaken with a puzzled look on her face. "Why did you call me 'Lady'? And how could I have that affect on Lord Sesshoumaru? I have never met him before today."

"It was just a slip of the tongue." said Jaken, hurriedly. "I'm just a stupid old toad! Don't pay any attention to me!"

Miroku was astonished. In the time that he had known Jaken, he had never acted like this. Something very strange was going on and it centered on this beautiful hanyou. "Jaken, what is going on?"

"Nothing, you hentai monk! Now leave me in peace!" Jaken turned to go but was blocked by Takara.

"I still want you to take me to your lord."

_groan_ "Very well. He went in search of his brother. Which way did he go, monk?"

Miroku looked at Jaken in annoyance. He wanted answers but realized that he wasn't going to get any at this time. He pointed toward a wall. "Lord Sesshoumaru, Kagome, and Shippou went over that wall. I believe they were heading toward the nearest forest to search for Inuyasha. We thought that he would seek out the tallest tree to think."

Takara started. "Inutaro does that."

Miroku looked at Takara in shock. "What?"

"I said, Inutaro does that." Takara looked thoughtful. "I bet I know where they have gone. Come on, Jaken. I still need you to present me to your lord so that I may make my plea." Takara headed for the nearest door.

_sigh_ "Bossy woman. Some things never change." Jaken set out in Takara's wake. "Hey, wait up! My legs aren't as long as yours!"

"So, Lord Sesshoumaru is your brother?"

"Unfortunately."

Inutaro raised an eyebrow at his father. "Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say that he and I have not had the best of relationships. He has tried to kill me a few times, but I don't think he wants to do that anymore."

Inutaro's jaw dropped in surprise. "Why would he want to kill you?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Partially because I'm a hanyou, and partially because of Tessaiga." He patted the sword hilt on his hip.

Inutaro's eyes fell on the sword hilt. It wasn't very impressive. "That ratty looking thing?" he scoffed. "Why would he want that?"

Inuyasha grinned and drew Tessaiga, transforming into its full length as he drew it . "Looks ain't everything."

Inuyasha's grin got even bigger as he watched the expressions on Inutaro's face. It looked like his eye's were going to bug out of his head. "It's a youkai guardian blade made from one of my father's fangs." he answered the unasked question. "It can kill a thousand youkai in a single stroke."

Inutaro finally found his voice. "How do you wield that thing?"

Inuyasha, still grinning, dropped to the ground. Inutaro followed him. "You see those trees." Inuyasha pointed with Tessaiga. Before Inutaro could answer, Inuyasha leaped into the air and brought the sword down in a sweeping cut. Lines of power leapt away from the blade, striking the trees and splintering them. When Inuyasha landed, he sheathed his sword and turned to Inutaro. "That attack is known as Kazi no Kizu. I have other more powerful attacks, but that one is the easiest. Other than just swinging the blade, that is."

Inutaro found his tongue. "Now I see why Lord Sesshoumaru would want the sword! I have heard that he is a very powerful youkai; this sword would make him nearly unstoppable!"

"Just one problem, though. He can't use it. It has an enchantment on it that won't let him." _snort _"The old man had it made so that only I could weild Tessaiga. And only if I promised to protect someone."

"You had to promise to protect someone before the sword would let you use it?" Inutaro was incredulous. "Let me guess. That pretty, dark haired girl fighting with mother, right? The one you called, Kagome?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah. She's the one that I swore to protect." Inuyasha paused, in thought. "I would have protected her, anyway. But that oath allows me to use Tessaiga."

"She'sspecial to you?"

"She's my mate."

Inutaro stared at his father in shock. "So, that means you will never reconcile with mother, will you?"

"Reconcile?" Inuyasha slowly turned to face Inutaro. "Listen, 'son'! I may not blame you for what happened, but I sure as hell blame her! She took something from me that I can't get back! It makes my skin crawl and I feel like I need a bath. I feel like running far away from here and leaving everyone behind, including my mate! A part of me doesn't even want to see her for fear that I am even more unworthy of her now than I was before! So don't talk to me about reconciling with Yukiho! As soon as I can get this bond to my soul broken, I am leaving this place, otherwise, I might kill her for what she has put me and Kagome through!"

"Father! You wouldn't!?"

A voice from the shadows spoke. "No, he would not. He has a soft spot for humans." Sesshoumaru stepped into the light of the clearing. "I have no such weakness and will have no problem with slaying that vile woman."

**A/N: That's it for now. I considered going on, but what is about to happen needs careful thought and a lot of writing. See ya', soon. (I hope!)**


	30. Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

**A/N: It's funny, I never dreamed this story would go on this long and still have so much left to write. I have to resolve the Yukiho issue, explore Naraku's involvement in this little plot, and see where Takara and Sesshoumaru are going. (Will he try to establish a relationship or will he let her remain just his niece?) Actually, I have the answers in mind already. I just need to write them out and add the details. As I have said before, sometimes I wonder if I am writing this story or if it is writing itself. Anyway, enough of my meandering, it is time to get down to business. Thank you for the reviews. They aren't necessary for me to write but they do feed my ego. And, I have a greeting to make. Hello, Jasmine. I really do work with your aunt and I am pleased that you are enjoying my stories. One of my daughters went to NEMS last year and is at NSHS this year. Makes me feel old. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha or his friends. Yukiho, Daremo, Takara, Inutaro, Lord Genki, and Lady Mariko are all mine, but I give you permission to use them, if you like them. And now, "Lay on, McDuff! And cursed be he who first cries, 'Hold! Enough!'"**

When Sesshoumaru stepped from the shadows, Kagome came from behind him. She had heard Inuyasha's reply to Inutaro and her heart bled for him. "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha stiffened at her voice. "Kagome." He bowd his head, as if he had a great burden on it. "Look, with what we've found out, maybe it would be best if you...."

"Don't!" Kagome interrupted. "If you tell me that you think I should find someone else, I swear I'll say 'it' until you're three feet deep! I have waited and wanted you for too long to let what someone did to you keep us apart."

"Kagome." Inuyasha looked down at his body in revulsion. "She did ... things ... to me, with me. How can you want to touch me after that?"

Kagome crossed the distance between them and threw herself into his arms. "Like this!" She kissed his cheek, very softly. "I have held you when I didn't know about this. You are no different now that I do. Inuyasha." She gently took his chin in her hand and turned his face to hers so that she could look him in the eyes. "You didn't do this. Yukiho did. I will help you through this. And, believe me, I don't think that you are soiled. You are still my beautiful hanyou and nothing can ever change that!" She leaned in and sealed her words with a gentle kiss.

When the kiss broke, Inuyasha started to speak but he was interrupted by the clash of swords. He thrust Kagome behind him and reached for Tessaiga as he spun to see Sesshoumaru and Inutaro glaring at each other over drawn blades.

88888888888888888888888

Inutaro had acted instinctively to the threat against his mother that had been made by this strange demon. "I don't know who you are." he grated, "But you will not harm my mother!" He laid a hand on his sword hilt.

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow to the hanyou. "You can not stop me from doing what needs to be done."

"Wanna bet." Inutaro drew his sword and slashed at Seshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru easily leapt away from the attack and looked at the hanyou, impassively. Apparently, this was Inuyasha's newly discovered son. Sesshoumaru had no qualms about killing the hanyou, however, since he and Inuyasha had worked out a truce, he did not think that killing Inutaro would be the best way to maintain it. Still, this impudent young fool needed to be put in his place. One did not attack the demon lord of the western lands with impunity! As Inuyaro sprang at him with another slashing attack, Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin with blinding speed to parry the blow. He expected to end the fight with that move since Tokijin would cleave Inutaro's blade into, and that would force the hanyou to withdraw. Instead, there was a loud clash as the blades met and Inutaro's proved to be strong enough to take Tokijin's blow. Immediately, the two separated and measured each other over their swords.

Inuyasha leaped between them. "Are you two out of your minds? What is going on here?"

"Stay out of this, brother." Sesshoumaru stated, coldly. "He attacked me and I will not tolerate such insolence."

At the same time, Inutaro was saying, "Stay out of this, father! He threatened to kill my mother!"

Inuyasha growled and drew Tessaiga. "That's enough out of both of you!" Before he could order them to return their swords to their sheaths, he was taken by surprise by Tessaiga. It pulsed. Hard.

Sesshoumaru looked to his hip where the Tensaiga was. It had pulsed.

"What the?" Inutaro nearly dropped his sword in shock when his pulsed. "My sword has never done that before!"

Sesshoumaru eyed him, narrowly and sheathed Tokijin. Slowly he drew Tensaiga. The three swords began pulsing in unison.

"Okay." Inutaro was getting a wild eyed look. "I am getting a little spooked here. What is going on?"

"Our swords...." began Inuyasha.

"Yes." answered Sesshoumaru. "They are reacting to each others presence."

"Then that means Inutaro's sword...."

"Must have been forged by Totosai from one of father's fangs." Sesshoumaru glared at his nephew. "Where did you get that sword?" he demanded.

"It was given to me by Lord Genki. He said that it had belonged to his grandfather."

"That explains it, then." came a voice from Inuyasha's neck.

"Myouga!" exclaimed Inuyasha. "What do you know about this?"

"It is quite simple, really." answered the flea demon. "Your father had a special sword forged for your grandfather. He presented it to him as a wedding present from the groom to the father of the bride. It was made by Totosai from one of his claws, instead of his fangs. It is exceptionally powerful against demons but has no other hidden powers. It is called Jajjimentotsume, 'The claw of judgement'."

"Lord Genki told me that the sword was special. He said that his grandfather had been given it so that he could protect the family from demons."

"That sounds like father." stated Sesshoumaru. "Always thinking of humans." His distaste registered in his voice.

"You don't like humans very much, do you?" asked Inutaro.

Inuyasha snorted. "That's an understatement. The only one he has ever tolerated for very long has been that little girl that tags along with him."

"Rin is my concern, brother, not yours." Sesshoumaru turned his attention back to Inutaro, who was regarding him thoughtfully. He returned the Tensaiga to its sheath and drew Tokijin once again. "We have unfinished business."

"I'm not going to let you kill him, Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha stepped in front of Inutaro. "Like it or not, he is my son."

"Do not concern yourself, Inuyasha. It is not my intent to kill him, at this time. However, he did attack me and none may do that with impunity. He must be shown his place and you have no business interfering."

Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder at Inutaro. "Is that true? Did you attack him?"

"He threatened to kill mother!" Inutaro replied. "I cannot allow him to do so."

Inuyasha stepped from between them with a sigh. "Remember, Sesshoumaru. You said you wouldn't kill him."

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?"

"Look, Kagome, I don't expect you to understand this but it is Sesshoumaru's right to defend himself. And as demon lord, he cannot allow an attack to go unanswered. It might show weakness to his enemies."

"But, he is fighting your son!"

"He said he wouldn't kill him!"

"You have got to stop this!"

"No he does not, little miko." Sesshoumaru never took his eyes off of Inutaro as he searched for a weakness in his nephew's defense. "My authority as lord and as pack leader have been challenged. This is between this hanyou and myself." Sesshoumaru suddenly lunged at Inutaro in a sweeping slash that the hanyou was barely able to block. Inutaro backflipped away from the blow and then launched a counter attack. Sesshoumaru parried the blow with ease and returned to an on guard position. Inutaro did the same.

"You are Inuyasha's brother, the inu-youkai Lord, Sesshoumaru?" asked Inutaro.

Sesshoumaru merely nodded in return.

"Then, you are my uncle."

"That fact is an accident of fate. Had your mother not done what she did, you would not exist." Sesshoumaru suddenly leaped into the air and brought Tokijin down in a hard, overhand swing. Inutaro blocked the blow, but the force behind it knocked him to one knee. This scene held for a moment until Inutaro was able to push Sesshoumaru away with his sword. Panting with exertion, Inutaro managed to surprise Sesshoumaru with burst of energy, coming at the demon lord with a flurry of sword strokes. Sesshoumaru deflected them all, but not without some difficulty. Again, they disengaged and regarded each other over their swords.

"You have an interesting technique. You are a better swordsman than your father." Sesshoumaru's face hardened. "You will lose, though."

"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Sesshoumaru. But, the fight isn't over yet."

"Yes, it is." With that statement, Sesshoumaru attacked with greater speed than any of his earlier attacks. Inutaro could barely make out his form as he came in as a blur. Only his training and his instincts allowed him to block the attacks that seemed to come at him from all sides. Pain shot through his sword arm as Sesshoumaru finally penetrated his defenses and cut his forearm. He dropped his sword and found himelf on his back with the point of Tokijin under his chin. "You fight well, for a hanyou." Sesshoumaru brought the tip of Tokijin up under the point of Inutaro's chin. He applied just enough pressure to break the skin and bring blood. "I am letting you live because I have no wish to fight Inuyasha at this time. Do not mistake this as weakness. If you attack me again, I will kill you." This said, he returned Tokijin to its sheath and stepped back. Kagome rushed forward and put a hand on Inutaro's chest.

"You will lie still while I look at that cut." She gently took hold of his arm and looked over the cut that Sesshoumaru had made. "I need my first aid kit." she fussed. She reached down to her torn kimono and tore off a strip from the hem. She then bound Inutaro's wound. "This will have to do until I get to my supplies." She stood and offered Inutaro her hand to help him up. He waved her off and stood on his own.

"Thank you for the offer, but I am fine."

_groan_ "Like father, like son." She turned to glare at Inuyasha. "He is as bad as you are."

Inuyasha grinned at her. "That just means he is a good fighter."

"Ooohhhh! Men!"

That statement actually brought a hint of a smile to Sesshoumaru's lips that the others couldn't see since he had his back to them. He stiffened as the breeze brought a scent to his nose. Takara appeared in the shadows and stepped into the clearing. The first thing she saw was Sesshoumaru. Her breath quickened as she looked at the tall demon lord. Then she saw Kagome fussing over Inutaro's arm as she adjusted the makeshift bandage that she had put on it. "Inutaro!" she cried out and ran to her brother's side. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'll live." He actually chuckled. "It could have gone a lot worse." He indicated Sesshoumaru with his wounded arm. "He could have killed me, but my uncle decided to teach me a lesson in attacking before knowing all that I should."

Sesshoumaru wheeled on Inutaro. "Do not be so quick to lay claims of kinship to me, hanyou. My brother may well be your father, but that does not excuse that you are a product of a revolting act perpetrated by your mother. Your existence is an affront to my families honor. Be grateful that I don't execute you with that vile woman."

Inutaro paled at these words and actually began to reach for Jajjimentotsume. Takara put a restraining hand on him. "Let me talk to him." Takara turned to face Sesshoumaru. "My lord, I wish to speak to you, in private."

**A/N: Okay. This looks like a good place to end this for now. See ya as soon as I can get time to write more.**


	31. Chapter Thirtyone

Chapter Thirty-one

**A/N: Hi, guys. Ever just have a serious case of the 'don't give a dang'? That's kind of what I've got. I'm tired. Been working 60 hours a week for a while now, and my head feels like it's ready to explode. Makes it very hard to be as creative as I would like to be. _sigh_ But, I don't need to vent my problems here. Makes me sound whiney. Since I am writing in such a depressed feeling, however, I might as well tell you that Inuyasha has come to an end in Japan. The final episode, #167, aired in Japan in Sept. I don't know how it ends. There is a fourth movie coming out soon, so all is not lost. Anyway, it is time to continue my little tale. I don't own Inuyasha.**

"I wish to speak to you in private."

Sesshoumaru looked at Takara calmly and then nodded his head. "As you wish." He turned and headed into the woods.

Takara started to follow him when Inutaro grabbed her arm. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

"I'm going to plead mother's case with him." Takara pulled away from him. "Fighting with him is not the answer. He is more powerful than you." She paused. "Besides, he seems to have a soft spot for me, for some reason."

Inuyasha snorted. "You don't know him very well, do you?"

Inutaro glared at his father and then glared at Takara. "Oh, alright! You can try."

Takara cocked an eyebrow at him. "Thank you for your permission." she commented, drily. That said, she turned to follow Sesshoumaru into the woods.

Inutaro looked at Inuyasha and Kagome. "Will she be alright?" He took a deep breath. "He won't ... demand .... anything from her to agree not to execute our mother, will he?"

Inuyasha's face darkened. "Sesshoumaru is many things; arrogant, stubbourn, and an asshole; but he has honor. I may not like him or completely trust him when it comes to the Tessaiga, but I do not fear for the safety of Kagome, Sango, or any other woman around him. Do not imply otherwise."

Inutaro paled in the face of his father's anger. "I'm sorry, Father." He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's just that many men have tried to take advantage of her. That since she is a hanyou, she must be some kind of wild animal in heat. They think that is less than a real woman. I'm just an over protective brother."

Inuyasha's face lost it's angry edge. "I'm a little over protective of the women in my life, too."

Kagome actually snorted, trying to hold in her laughter.

"What's your problem?"

Kagome looked at him and couldn't help it. She lost it completely and began laughing. "That has got to be one of the biggest understatements I have ever heard." she gasped.

In the meantime, Shippou had made his way from Kagome's shoulder to the ground and had walked over to where Inutaro was. "So, Inuyasha is your father, right?"

Inutaro looked down at the kitsune in surprise. "Yes, he is. Why do you ask?"

Shippou suddenly grinned and leapt up to Inutaro's shoulder. "Great!" he exclaimed. "That means I have a big brother, now!"

Inutaro's jaw dropped. "Brother?"

88888888888888888888888888888888

Sesshoumaru paused in a clearing a few hundred paces from where Inuyasha and his mate were. While he waited on Takara to arrive, he mused on the events of the day. "Inuyasha, you certainly have a way of bringing about the most bizarre turns of event." He caught Takara's scent before she entered the clearing. He stood even straighter but kept his back to her as she came into the open. "You wished to speak to me in private. What is it that you desire?"

That question had an unexpected affect on Takara. She flushed. 'Where did that come from?' she thought as she took a deep breath to compose herself. She lowered her head and began. "My lord," she began, not seeing the very slight shudder that went through Sesshoumaru as she said that, "I wish to plead for my mother's life."

Sesshoumaru turned until his face was in profile. He did not trust himself to look directly at her just yet, so he watched her from the corner of his eye. "She has soiled the honor of my family. That must be washed away with her blood." He turned his back to her again. "Unless you have a better punishment, I plan to carry out this once we get her seperated from Inuyasha."

"Wouldn't that be punishment enough?" begged Takara. "To be seperated from the one you love, never to see them again."

Sesshoumaru's soul twisted in his body. With supreme will to override the pain his heart felt, he turned to see that Takara was on her knees and that she was bowed all the way to the ground in a position of supplication and submission.

"Stand" he commanded.

"The pain of losing a part of your soul is significant." he stated, after she had regained her feet. "The hell that is endured may be enough punishment to satisfy my families honor." He ignored the look of hope that came to Takara's face. He had to.

"Then you will let her live?"

"I make no promises, but I will consider it." Sesshoumaru suddenly found himself in a tight embrace.

"Thank you, my lord!" cried Takara, her tears running down her cheeks and losing themselves in Sesshoumaru's hakama. "That is all I ask."

Sesshoumaru was shocked and allowed his guard to slip. His arm went around her and he breathed in her scent. It brought back memories of his mate and his heart screamed at him for relief from the grief that it had endured. He felt his youkai build inside of him with the intent of claiming this woman and restoring his soul.

Sesshoumaru growled savagely and pushed her away from him.

Takara's face was stricken. She fell to the ground and cried out. "Please forgive me, my lord! I was just so overwhelmed with gratitude..."

Sesshouamru's eyes flashed red as he stuggled to control his youkai. His body shuddering with effort, he slowly brought his instincts back under control. As his impassive mask slipped back into place, he spoke to Takara in a cold voice. "Do not touch me again."

Takara looked up at this tall youkai who had pushed her away from him. She had watched him struggle to maintain control and had been fearful that he would lose. His scent had told her what he was controlling. That he would feel desire that strong scared her .... and excited her. She didn't know him, had never met him before that day. But something about him seemd so familiar, as if she had known him all her life. She was intrigued by this feeling. But his flat statement caused her heart to squeeze in her chest. Was she that repulsive to him? She didn't think so, because of the strength of his reaction. She bowed low to the ground. "I apologize, Lord Sesshoumaru. It was improper of me to embrace you without your leave. I will not do so again."

Knowing that she couldn't see his face from her position, he allowed his mask to slip and he let some of his pain be reflected in his eyes. Jaken could see his lord's face, though, from the edge of the clearing where he had finally caught up with Takara. "Oh, my poor lord." groaned the little vassel. 'I had best let my lord know that I am here.' he thought. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" he called in his loudest voice. "Where are you, my lord?"

His eyes impassive again, he looked toward the edge of the clearing were that annoying voice could be heard. He turned from Takara and began walking. "Attend me." he ordered, as he strode past Jaken.

Takara was left in the clearing, alone. She felt wrung out. She had been prepared to beg for a long time for her mother's life and yet Lord Sesshoumaru had seemed to give her request consideration after only one asking. His comments at her question of whether separation would be enough left her food for thought. 'He sounded as if he knew what that would be like.' And then his reaction to her embrace. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that it wasn't disgust that caused him to push her away from him. 'He was protecting me, from himself.' This thought brought up another question. 'Why? Why did I affect him that strongly. He has been acting as if we were mates and had been seperated.' Something nagged at her mind. The reaction of the toad demon to her name and the fact that he had known it before she had been introduced. 'I was named for my aunt, who died before I was born. Maybe Mother has some insight into this. Lord Genki will let me talk to her, I know. I've got to ask Mother.' This thought in her mind, she stood and began making her way back to the manor.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sesshoumaru walked through the clearing were Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippou, and Inutaro were. He paused long enough to look at his brother with his mate and state, "It is getting late.", before continuing to the manor.

Inutaro called after him. "Wait, Lord Sesshoumaru. Where is my sister?"

Sesshoumaru did not stop walking. "I know not, nor do I care."

Inutaro watched him walk away. "Rude, isn't he." commented Inutaro.

Inuyasha snorted. "For him, that was good manners."

"He is a bit reserved." chimed in Kagome.

"Reserved?!" Inuyasha was incredulous. Kagome could describe anyone in terms that wouldn't make them look too bad.

"Well..."

"He was right, though." said Shippou.

"What was that, runt?"

"I said 'He was right.' It is getting late." Suddenly the kitsune wailed. "And I never got to eat lunch!"

The three adults just looked at the kitsune. And then all three of their stomaches growled. Inuyasha looked at the other two. "It's been a long day. Let's get back to the manor before anything else can go wrong."

They walked back to the manor in silence. The fact that night was falling was a shock. This morning had promised to be a beautiful day and it had dissolved into chaos. They entered the manor and went to Lady Mariko's garden. At first, they thought that no one was there and as they started to leave to go to the audience chamber, a figure rose from the shadows around the base of the trees next to the gazing pool. "Inu-chan?" came the voice, low and soft.

Inuyasha and Inutaro spun to the sound of the voice. As one, they exclaimed, "Aunt Mariko!" and as one, they rushed to her. As they came up to her, she held open her arms to hold them both in her embrace. As she held them, she began to cry. Presently, she took her arm from around Inutaro to embrace Inuyasha, alone. "I am so very sorry, Inuyasha. This day started with such joy and promise and has ended in such pain and anguish." She lifted her hands to the sides of his head and drew his face down to kiss him on the forehead. "Please believe me, my darling one. If I had known that any of what transpired today was to happen, I never would have sent Daremo for you."

"It is alright, Aunt Mariko. All the pain of this day was worth seeing you again." Inuyasha returned her kiss to the forehead, then gathered her up into a fierce hug. "I love you and nothing will change that." he whispered into her ear as he held her.

"Oh, my dear Inu-chan!" she whispered as she began crying, again.

"Inuyasha." A man's voice called from the door of the garden. It was Lord Tanaka.

Inuyasha seperated from his aunt. "What do you want, Genki.?"

"I wanted to let you know that Yukiho was under house arrest."

"No!" protested Inutaro.

"Silence, Inutaro!" Genki snapped. "I have had my orders questioned enough for one day. She has been confined to her rooms and I will try her tomorrow for the crimes that she has commited."

"But, my lord...." began Inutaro.

Genki gave Inutaro his full attention. "Inutaro." he said, coldly. "I believe I gave you an order. Do not make me issue it again."

Inutaro stiffened and then bowed stiffly to his lord. "Hai, Lord Tanaka." He turned to leave. "Am I permitted to see her?"

"You may. But she is not to leave her rooms."

Inutaro started to leave the garden, then stopped. He turned to face Inuyasha and Kagome, who had come up to stand beside him. He bowed to Inuyasha. "It has been good to finally meet you, Fath... Inuyasha. I shall see you on the morrow." Without waiting for a reply, he left the garden.

Inuyasha stared after him for a moment before turning back to Genki and Mariko. Genki had guided his mother to a bench and was sitting with her. "Where are my friends?"

"They are in the audience chamber, waiting for you."

Inuyasha nodded. "Very well. We will be going back to the inn, now." He shifted his attention to center on his aunt. "Aunt Mariko. Please get some rest. I will see you in the morning. Come on guys, let's go." This said, he put his arm around Kagome and left the garden with Shippou scampering to his shoulder as they went through the door.

Genki and Lady Mariko sagged against each other. Genki put his arm around his mother's shoulders as she cried. He leaned back slightly, to contemplate the stars. "At least this day is over." he said, philisophically. "Tomorrow can't be any worse." He felt the wind rise as he said this and wondered if he had not just brought bad luck down on themselves.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Kagura stood outside the camp that she shared with the retainers of her lord. She called the winds to her and let them rise. Then she smiled.

**A/N: Thus it ends, for now. I shall see you guys fairly soon. My wife has promised me more time to write in the very near future. By the way, I found an overview of the last Inuyasha episode at InuyashaWorld. com. I won't say anything about it except that it is not the end of the story. See ya', Fyrloche.**


	32. Chapter Thirtytwo

Chapter Thirty-two

**A/N: Howdy, howdy, howdy! _I can't believe I just did that!_ Thank you for all the kind reviews to my work. And for all the reviews to get another chapter out. Oh, and thanks, Valese, for the info. I had heard some of it, but not the part about the show only being put on hold until the manga got far enough ahead that it wouldn't be overlapping. I recieved some interesting news the other day. One of my stories (Poetry Through Time) has been nominated for best poem/songfic by the IYfanguild. I was shocked. I knew that several of you liked my work, but I never thought about the possibility of getting a prize for anything. Now, for a teaser. I have a major bombshell to drop, I just haven't figured when it will go into this storyline best. And, it will be something that could radically change Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's relationship. _evil grin_ That's all you get at this time. _ducks flying objects_ Aawww! I love you guys, too! Now, on with the story. I don't own Inuyasha.**

Takara approached her mother's rooms. She had questions that needed answered and she hoped that Yukiho could provide those answers. As she rounded the last corner to her mother's chambers, she saw Daremo standing guard at her door. She also saw Inutaro approaching from the other end of the hallway and began running toward him. He saw her at the same time and began running toward her, too. They met almost directly in front of Daremo in a kind of collision that was a very emotional hug. After a moment or two, they parted from the tight embrace but not from each others presence. They shifted their position until they were facing each other, holding both hands.

"I have questions for mother." stated Takara.

"As do I." replied Inutaro. "By the way, what happened between you and the demon lord?"

"That's one of the reasons I have questions for mother." That was all Takara would say about that. She turned her head to look at the somewhat bemused Daremo. "Daremo? We need to see our mother. Will you permit us to pass?"

Daremo looked at the two hanyous that were almost like siblings to him. He nodded. "Lord Tanaka left instuctions to allow you to pass." He paused, hating himself for what he had to say next. "Do not attempt to take her from her rooms. If she is found outside them before her trial, she will be executed on sight."

Inutaro's eyes narrowed. "That is extreme, Daremo. I do not like it."

Daremo looked Inutaro in the eye. "Extreme or not, I have my orders. You know of my devotion to duty, Inutaro. Do not force me to choose between it and you, my friend. You wouldn't like the choice."

Inutaro's temper flared. This had been a very bad day for him and his pride had taken a few blows. "Do you think that you can take me?" he snarled, placing his hand on the hilt of Jajjimentotsume.

Daremo straightened and placed his hand on his own sword hilt. "You already know the answer to that." He looked at him, blandly. "My father chose me as his successor for the title of master of the Mitsurugi style. And his reasons had nothing to do with the blood linking us. He knew which one of us was the better swordsman and the better teacher. As do you."

"Inutaro, stop it!" Takara demanded, before he could reply. "You know that he is right. You may be very good with a sword but he is better." She put her hands on her hips. "Apologize to Daremo. He is only doing his job, and you know it!"

Inutaro growled in frustration and then looked at Daremo, a bit sheepishly. "Sorry, Daremo. This has been a trying day. My temper is a little off." Then he grimaced. "Besides, I lost a fight earlier and have not been in a good mood ever since."

Daremo nodded his head. "Forgiven." He smiled, grimly. "It was Lord Sesshoumaru that beat you, wasn't it?"

"He got lucky."

"No, he didn't. You did." Daremo shook his head. "I have seen him in action. That you are alive is surprising." Daremo held up his hand as Inutaro looked ready to explode again. "Peace, brother in training. I speak only of what I have seen. Lord Sesshouamru is not a youkai to be trifled with. I am glad that he chose to spare your life."

Takara cleared her throat. "I hate to interrupt this, but I would really like to see my mother."

Inutaro blushed and Daremo nodded his head to Takara. "Of course, Takara." He stepped to one side of the door. "Take as long as you need." He took a deep breath. "For what it's worth, my friends, I'm sorry."

Takara stopped and smiled at Daremo, slightly. "Thank you." She looked at her brother, who had an equal look of gratitude. "Let's go see mother." Then she slid open the door to the room and stepped through.

The interior of the room was dark. At first Takara was afraid that her mother was asleep and that she would have to wake her. 'I don't want to wake her, but I have got to find out some things.' As she and Inutaro made their way to the sleeping area, she noticed that there was a candle burning on the far side of the sleeping chamber. She immediately knew what her mother was doing. She was kneeling before a small shrine on that side of the room, head bowed in prayer. Takara looked at her brother and he nodded thoughtfully as he recognized what their mother was doing, too. They had seen her doing this on a daily basis for as long as they could remember. Takara stepped forward and laid a hand on Yukiho's shoulder. "Mother?"

"I've been expecting you, dear one." Her voice was husky from crying. She didn't open her eyes or raise her head. "Is your brother with you?"

"I am here, mother." Inutaro kept his voice neutral. Takara glared at him.

Yukiho drew a deep, ragged breath. "Oh, my son! Please forgive me. There are so many things that I should have told you a long time ago, but I had been telling the lie for so long that I had come to almost believe it myself."

"Mother, why?" Inutaro asked in a tone that was an equal mix of anger and anguish. "All these years, you have knelt before this," he indicated the shrine with a wave his hand, "and have been lieing about this great love that you and father had."

Yukiho looked at the shrine that contained only a strip of paper with Inuyasha's name on it. Her tears started again. "I wish that I could make you understand, that I could make you see. I do love your father, with all my heart and soul. And I always believed that he loved me. I always thought that the only reason that he hadn't come back was the death of his grandfather, but I also thought that when he was old enough and strong enough, he would come for me."

"But he didn't, mother."

"No. He didn't." Her body shook from the sobs. Takara knelt beside her and put her arms around her mother as she cried. Inutaro remained aloof.

"Mother, release the binding."

Yukiho looked at her son in shock. "What?"

"I want you to release the binding of souls that you have on father." Inutaro began pacing. "Look, mother, what you did was wrong. You know that! If you release Inuyasha from this binding voluntarily, it would go better for you. He might even forgive you for doing it, in time and with Kagome's help."

Yukiho's face became dark with anger and jealousy. "What has she got to do with this?"

"I have spent some time talking with both of them. She is a strange and remarkable woman. Father is hot tempered and brash. She is a calming influence on him. And she is the most forgiving person I have ever met. She has the true heart of a miko."

"Some miko! She steals my son from me, as well as my mate!"

Inutaro shook his head. "She has stolen nothing. I am still your son, mother. And Inuyasha was never you mate."

Yukiho crumpled in on herself. "Even if what you say is true and he would forgive me the binding of souls, do you think he can forgive me for you?"

Inutaro's face was stone. "That I do not know, mother. I do not know if I can forgive you for that, as yet."

"Inutaro!" Takara exclaimed. "That was uncalled for."

"Stay out of this one, Takara." Inutaro said, flatly. "I was concieved by deception and deciet. It is none of your concern. It is strictly between mother, father, and myself."

"Lord Sesshoumaru doesn't see it that way. He believes that his families honor is involved." Takara paused. "I don't see it that way, either. Too many people are affected by this."

Before Inutaro could speak, his mother interupted. "Your sister is right, Inutaro-chan. What I did may be between you, your father, and I, but many others have been caught up in it, as well." She looked at her son, love and affection shining through her eyes from behind the pain. "As wrong as it was, I am not sure that I wouldn't do it again. Having you has been one of the greatest pleasures in my life."

"BUT I WAS BORN OUT OF A LIE!" roared Inutaro. "You lied to everyone about this, mother! You even lied to yourself that you were trying to save him!"

"That's not true!" Yukiho screamed back. "You weren't there! You didn't see him pinned to that tree like he was dead! You didn't hear his heartbeat slowly fading, day by day! I was desperate to do anything to save him and when I couldn't wake him from that damned spell, I was desperate that he always have a bloodline to remember him! And if what I did was wrong, then so be it! I acted out of love for him."

Inutaro looked at his mother, unfazed by her outburst. "Then release him! Prove your love, don't hold him against his will or then everything you have said is a lie and your rape of him will be complete." With this final word, Inutaro spun on his heel and left the room.

Yukiho collapsed into sobs and clung to her daughter. "What am I going to do?" she moaned.

"I don't know, mother. I can't answer that for you." Takara paused and debated whether or not to tell her mother this, then decided that it would be best to get it over with. "But I can tell you that Lord Sesshoumaru wants to execute you over this." Yukiho looked at Takara in alarm. "It's alright, mother. I talked to him and got him to agree not to execute you, for the time being. He is even considering letting it go completely. Much will depend on if you can break the binding."

"You have great powers of persuasion, dear one. Thank you."

Takara looked uncomfortable. "Mother, I don't think it was me alone that persuaded him. Both he and his retainer knew my name and I have never met either of them in my life. You saw how Lord Sesshoumaru reacted to the monk when he asked me to bear his child. Do you know anything that might explain this? Is it related to my mother or my aunt?"

Yukiho had been using this time to compose herself. She sniffled a little before answering her daughter. "I may have an answer." She sighed, deeply. "You know that you were named for your aunt, your mother's twin sister, and you know that she died before you were born. Your mother almost never talked about her death, but one time she did." Yukiho paused. "Takara, this is not pleasant. Are you sure that you want to hear it?" At Takara's nod, she continued. "Very well. Your aunt was raped and murdered." Takara was aghast. "That's not all. She was pregnant at the time. Her child died with her and her mate nearly went insane with grief."

"And her mate was?" Takara asked, fearful of the answer.

"Haven't you guessed that, Takara? You are the image of your mother, so you are also the image of her twin. Your Aunt Takara was mated to one of the most powerful demons in the land. His name is Sessoumaru."

8888888888888888888888888888888

"Jaken, where is Rin?"

"I left her with the demon slayer and the monk, my lord."

Sesshoumaru frowned in distaste at the mention of the monk but said nothing. He might be a lecher but he wasn't a child molester so Rin was safe from the monk's advances. An errant thought brought a brief smile to the corner of his mouth. 'And even if she wasn't, the slayer would kill him if he did.'

"See to Rin, Jaken. I wish to be alone."

"But, my lord!" Jaken protested.

"Leave me, Jaken." He turned his back to the toad demon and walked deeper into the shadows of the forest.

"Yes, my lord." Jaken was resigned. He knew what his lord was going to do.

Sesshoumaru walked through the darkening forest, lost in his thoughts. 'What do I do, beloved? I have never felt this way about a woman since you left me, and now, I cannot keep her from my thoughts. Am I betraying you? I know that you would not think so but it is not you who has this burden. My youkai wants to claim her. It has never reacted this strongly. Is it just her appearance or is it more. When she embraced me, it felt like you were there. I could almost feel the bond that we shared, renewed. Is it possible? Could she be you, reborn? But she is a hanyou, so it cannot be.' He stopped in a small clearing and looked at the stars. He listened to the wind in the trees so that he would not have to think on his lose any more.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Kagura stood outside the camp that she shared with the retainers of her lord. She called the winds to her and let them rise. Then she smiled.

**A/N: Yes, I know that it is the same ending. Anyway, I just thought that this would be a good place to stop, for now. Of course, I know that you don't think so._ snicker_ Until next time.**


	33. Chapter Thirtythree

Chapter Thirty-three

**A/N: Greetings! I have returned from the land of depression and despair. _snort_ Seriously, folks. I must apologize for my lengthy absence. I have had a lot on my mind and I haven't been in the mood to write. Couple that with 60 hours of work a week and it is hard to keep my ideas coherant. However, I shall now make the attempt. I have decided to put 'Be Careful What You Do' on hold for a while as I try to finish this piece of work. I feel like I am cheating fans by working on two at the same time so I will fall back to my habit of one story at a time, with the occasional one-shot thrown in. Anyway, enough rambling. It is time to get on with it, so: On Your Marks! Get Set! GO!**

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou went in search of Sango and Miroku. They found them in the main hall with Rin. Rin immediately ran to Shippou and tackled him, dragging him off to one side to question him on what he had seen. Sango watched Rin drag Shippou away with an amused expression on her face, then she turned to face Kagome. She sobered. "Are you alright?"

Kagome sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes with her hand. Then she nodded. "Hai, Sango. I'm dealing with it."

Sango turned her attention to the silent hanyou. "And what about you, Inuyasha? How are you holding up?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Just swell, Sango! I couldn't be better! In the space of one day, I find out that not only do I have a crazy bitch claiming to be my mate, I have a son by her because she couldn't keep her hands off me while I was pinned to the Goshimboku! How would you like to find out that someone had had their way with you while you slept?"

Miroku, who had been standing to one side, sighed dreamily. "I would have been sorry I missed it." _Whack!! _He had forgotten that Sango had another shoe.

"Not everyone is as perverted as you, Houshi-sama." Sango said, her tone as cold as ice.

Inuyasha looked at his friend in mild disgust. "If you think it's so great, I'll steer her in your direction. Maybe she'll give you that child you keep asking for."

Miroku looked up from the ground at his hanyou friend wryly. "I do not think that will work. Somehow, I doubt that I am her type."

"Enough with the jokes, already. Feh! The only good that has come out of this day is seeing Aunt Mariko again."

"What about Inutaro?" Kagome asked. "Hasn't he been something good, too?"

_groan_ "Yeah, I guess so. He seems like a pretty good guy. At least he is a fighter, and not a wimp. I could do worse than him for a son."

"You don't hold what Yukiho did against him?" Miroku asked, while cocking an eyebrow at Inuyasha.

"What good would that do?" snapped Inuyasha. "It ain't his fault that he's here."

Miroku held up his hand to placate his friend. "Peace, Inuyasha! I did not think that you should. I am just a little surprised at the amount of maturity that you are showing. Many men would not be able to get past it."

"Feh! My anger and my disgust is with his mother. That bitch took something from me that she had no right to, and .... I can't get it back." Inuyasha turned his back to his friends. "Gods! It makes my skin crawl! The idea of her hands on me while I slept..." His voice trailed off and he shuddered.

Kagome came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's alright, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shook off her embrace and spun to face her. "NO, IT'S NOT!" he shouted, in anguish. "I want to know everything she did to me! Everything! Maybe then I can do something to feel clean, again!"

Kagome stood there with her fingers laced together and her hands in front of her face, eyes shining with tears. She was at a loss for something to say that would comfort Inuyasha.

Miroku exchanged a glance with Sango, then he cleared his throat. "Inuyasha? How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know. But I've got to do something! I can't live the rest of my life feeling like this!" He turned to Kagome. "I know how much you love me, but, when you touch me now, a part of my mind whispers to me and asks me, 'Did she touch you like that?', and I feel sick! I've been trying to fight it, to ignore the voice, but it just keeps getting worse! How can I live like this? I'll be damned if I am going to spend the rest of my life not being able to hold you because of this!"

"We will get through this, Inuyasha! I swear we will!"

Miroku cleared his throat, again. "Inuyasha, part of my duty as a houshi is to help heal people's souls when they are troubled." He paused. "I have counciled victims of rape before."

Sango and Kagome looked at him in surprise. This was something new.

"Yeah, I'll bet you counciled them." Inuyasha sneered.

Miroku's face turned to stone and his voice became flat and emotionless. "Regardless of how I may behave on occassion, I take my vocation seriously. I have never attempted to do what you have implied with an injured soul, and I am deeply offended that you would think so."

Inuyasha glared at Miroku sourly and then groaned. _Aaarrrrggg!_ "Sorry, Miroku. I'm taking things out on you. That was a cheap shot, wasn't it?"

Miroku's face relaxed and he smiled, slightly. "It was to be expected. Injured people often lash out at the ones trying to help them. And I will freely admit that I have no true idea of what you are going through, as I have never had it happen to me."

Inuyasha looked confused. "I haven't accused you of that." he protested.

"You will." Miroku assured him. "Trust me, you will."

"Whatever. You think you can help me stop feeling like I need to peel my skin off."

"I will try."

"No, Miroku." Inuyasha's head jerked around to stare at Kagome. How could she protest?!

"Your pardon, Kagome?" asked the startled Miroku.

"I said no, Miroku. You will not 'try'. 'We' will succeed. I am going to be a part of this and together, we will help Inuyasha." Her face was alight with her conviction.

Miroku looked at her, fondly. "Yes, Lady Kagome. We will help him." Suddenly, a very embarressed look came to Miroku's face.

"What's wrong, Miroku?" asked Kagome, in concern.

Miroku laughed, weakly. "We have been discussing the needs of the soul and my body just reminded me of the needs of the flesh."

"Huh?" Kagome asked. Suddenly, she got an embarressed look on her face, too.

"What 'needs of the flesh'?" Sango asked, suspicously. Then, her face got the same embarressed look. "Oh." she exclaimed.

Inuyasha was beginning to get angry. "Okay, what are you guys leaving me out of?" About that time, his stomach growled ..... loudly. Everyone looked at him and started to laugh.

"Nothing, now."

Suddenly, Shippou came running up. "Hey, guys! I'm hungry!"

Rin, who was running right behind Shippou, exclaimed. "Rin is hungry, too!"

Kagome giggled and knelt down to ruffle Shippou's hair. "Let's go back to the inn. I'm sure that the innkeeper has something for us to eat. And then ... Miroku? I have an idea that I want to run by you. I don't think it will solve all of Inuyasha's problems but it might make him feel less unclean."

Kagome fell back to discuss the details of her idea with Miroku. He nodded his head as they walked along and said, "That just might help. No promises of success, but it could make a difference ... depending on how well Inuyasha responds, of course."

"Responds to what?" Inuyasha asked, suspicously.

"You'll see." promised Kagome.

8888888888888888888888888888888

After they had returned to the inn, Miroku and Kagome went to the innkeeper with a request while everyone else went to the dining hall.

Inuyasha was getting nervous. "Have you got any idea what they are up to?" he asked Sango.

She sighed. "Not this time." She smiled at Inuyasha to reassure him. "But, you know that whatever it is, they only have your best interest at heart."

"Yeah, I know. But it still gets to me that they are making plans about me without me." Rin and Shippou had dived into the food. "We might as well eat. At the rate those two are going, we won't get to if we don't grab something, now."

"Rin." Sango called. "Slow down, dear. It isn't going to run away."

"Oi, Shippou." Inuyasha called. "She's right, ya' know. It's already dead."

Rin and Shippou looked at each other, sheepishly. "Sorry." they mumbled, in unison. "But we were hungry." Then they looked at each other again, and began giggling.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. If this keeps up, we are going to have to seperate them."

Sango laughed. "I think it's too late for that." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think that Rin has Shippou truly and thouroughly hooked."

"They're a little young for that, don't you think?"

"Who can say? Besides, a case of puppy love will keep them distracted while we deal with the more serious issues that are happening. They really don't need to be involved in all this. They are too young."

"Ain't that the truth."_ groan_ "Sometimes, I think I'm too young to deal with this."

Miroku and Kagome entered the dining hall. Kagome smiled reassuringly at Inuyasha as she sat on the floor next to him. "It's all set. We will start right after dinner."

"What's all set?" Inuyasha snapped. All this secrecy was getting on his nerves.

"Just trust us for a little longer, Inuyasha. I want this to work and if I tell you what we are up to beforehand you might get too many ideas about how it wouldn't work and that would keep it from working."

"Huh?"

"Just keep an open mind, okay?"

_sigh_ "Feh."

"Now, what is there to eat? I'm starving."

8888888888888888888888888888888

After the meal, Miroku, Kagome, and Inuyasha met back in Inuyasha's room. Sango had taken Shippou and Rin to her room to keep them out of what was going on.

"Alright, what is this mysterious treatment you have for me?"

"It's not that mysterious, Inuyasha. Kagome came up with the idea. Since you are having problems with the feeling of being unclean and since these problems are manifesting from your mind instead of any true uncleanness, she suggested that we try a kind of symbolic cleansing." Miroku paused in his explaination. "We don't know that this will work, Inuyasha, but we do know that the mind can convince the body of many things. What we are trying to do is to convince your mind that it is clean of Yukiho's touch."

"And just how do you expect to cleanse my mind. You can't take my brain out and wash it."

"No. But we can give you a cleansing of the body."

"So basically, I'm about to take a bath."

"Eh, well, yes." Inuyasha snorted. "Bear with us, Inuyasha. I have prayed over and blessed the water and the soap. I know that it sounds strange, but the purpose of this bath is symbolic. It is not meant to literally clean you. It is meant to give your mind a chance to clean itself of what it is feeling."

"Please give it a chance, Inuyasha." Kagome pleaded with her hanyou.

"Okay, Kagome. It can't hurt to try. Besides, worse comes to worse, at least I'll get a bath out of it."

"Excellent." Miroku turned and went to the door.

"Where are you going, monk?"

"You don't need me to bathe. As I said, I have already blessed the water and the soap, the rest is up to you and Kagome. Good night." He stepped through the door and closed it behind him before Inuyasha could make any further comment.

Kagome reached out and took Inuyasha's hand. "Come with me." She led him into the bathing room. The water in the tub was steaming lightly. "Now get undressed and get into the tub."

"With you in here?" Inuyasha was incredulous. It was not so much that he was self concious as it was that he was concious of her.

"I'll turn my back, if you want me to."

"No, Kagome. I just didn't expect you to stay here with me while I undressed." He untied the belt holding his hakama closed and began disrobing.

Kagome began blushing as more of his clothing came off. She felt like a voyuer. "I wanted to do this, Inuyasha." She said softly. "I wanted you to see that I am not disgusted by you or your body."

He was down to his undergarment. "I'll leave this on until I get into the tub."

Kagome didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed as he stepped into the steaming tub. After he settled into place, she shrugged her shoulders out of her kimono and let it fall to the floor. She blushed as she stepped into the tub wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

"Now what?" asked Inuyasha in a low voice.

"Now, I am going to bathe you. I am doing this to show you that I don't think of you as unclean and I am not repulsed by you." She picked up the soap and a sponge. She worked up a lather and began at his neck and worked down over his shoulders and upper chest. "I want you to think about the feelings you were having earlier, about feeling dirty. I want you to imagine that I am washing away that dirt with this soap and water that have been blessed for this purpose, the purpose of cleansing a friend." She took a deep breath. "Now, stand up." Her breath caught as she watched him stand and watched the water stream down his body. She swallowed hard and continued to work up a lather over his chest and arms. Then she took a dipper full of water and washed away the soap. She began working on his stomach and sides, noticing that he would flinch slightly when she touched him. "Relax, Inuyasha. I promise I won't hurt you."

"I know that, Kagome." His voice was low and soft. He gasped as her hand touched his skin at the top of his fundoshi. "Ka-kagome? Y-y-you don't intend to w-w-wash me th-there, do y-you?" he stammered in sudden fear.

"That is up to you, Inuyasha. She touched you there more than any where else." Inuyasha flinched. "If you don't want me to, I understand." Her eyes were downcast so that he couldn't see the emotion in them.

"Gods, Kagome!" He suddenly caught her up in a fierce embrace that she returned just a fiercely. "I want you to! Never in my life have I wanted anything so badly!" He whimpered slightly, reminding her of a lost puppy. "I wanted you to be the first, the only one to touch me like that, and now that is gone."

Her heart swelled in her chest for him. It ached at his pain. "I love you, Inuyasha. It doesn't matter that I won't be the first to hold you like that. It matters that I will be the first that you chose to hold like that. And that I will be the only one that you will continue to hold."

"I love you, too, mate." He nuzzled the top of her head before tilting her head back to kiss her. As the kiss deepened, he trailed his hands down her arms until they rested on her hands. Trembling slightly, he moved her hands to the top of his fundoshi and began to push it downwards.

Kagome stepped back from the kiss and swallowed, then she knelt slightly to help him remove his undergarment. Her thoughts were a mess. She had thought that she was prepared for this until it confronted her, now she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to stare at his nakedness but she didn't want to look away, either. Blushing, she recovered her sponge and soap and began to work up a lather. Taking a breath to try and calm her heart, she slowly reached out and gently cupped him with her free hand, touching him there for the first time. Her face became even redder as she felt the warmth of him and the pulse of his heart in her hand. She could feel him shuddering and began to gently clean him with the sponge. After a moment of gentle scrubbing with the sponge, she got a dipper of water and rinsed him off. She kissed him gently and stepped back. "I'll get you a towel." she said, as she climbed out of the tub. As he stepped out of the tub and accepted the towel from her, she asked, "How do you feel?"

"I don't know if it worked, Kagome. I don't feel as bad as I did, but I think that that is because of you more than the bath."

Kagome smiled at him in encouragement. "Whatever works, my mate. If the bath failed but I succeeded, then it really doesn't matter, does it?"

Inuyasha smiled back at her. "No, my love, I don't guess it does." He frowned. "But I still don't feel at ease."

"We really didn't expect you to, Inuyasha. All we really wanted to do was get you to feeling less dirty, like you had something to do with what happened. Miroku is still going to want to council you."

"So, I have to spend time telling the monk my feelings. Sounds like a load of crap to me."

"Give it a chance, Inuyasha. A lot of people feel that way, but it does help them after a while."

_sigh_ "Alright, Kagome. I'll give it a try but only for you."

"That's all I ask." She yawned. "Man! I'm beat. I'm going to change out of these wet clothes and get ready for bed." She headed toward the door.

"Kagome?" She turned to look at Inuyasha. "Stay with me." He saw the look on her face. "Not like that, not yet. Just stay with me. I'm going to sleep in the tree again tonight and I would like to go to sleep with you in my arms."

"I would like that, too. I'll go put on something dry and be right back." She hurried out of the room.

While she was gone, Inuyasha put on his firerat. It was what he felt most comfortable in. When she returned to the room, he didn't hesitate. He scooped her up and headed to the window. When he got to the tree that they had slept in the night before, he leapt up to the branch that they had used. As he settled against the tree trunk, she burrowed into him for warmth. He tilted her head back and gently kissed her. "I love you." he whispered.

"I love you." she whispered back as she laid her head on his chest. Her breathing steadied and deepened as she quickly fell asleep. Inuyasha held her close and looked at the stars, listening to the wind.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Kagura stood outside the camp that she shared with the retainers of her lord. She called the winds to her and let them rise. Then she smiled.

**A/N: Finally! I hope that this filler chapter meets with your approval. These things are hard to write but are necessary for the continuity of the story. I can't just jump from one conflict to another. Anyway, I'll see you soon. Until next time, Fyrloche.**


	34. Chapter Thirtyfour

Chapter Thirty-four

**A/N: Hello, again. Time to get on with the next chapter in this saga. Actually, I'm rewriting this chapter. I came up with an idea I liked better. For anyone who is interested, I placed second in the Inuyasha Fanguild competition for best poem/songfic with 'Poetry Through Time'. Now, on with the show. I don't own Inuyasha and company.**

Rin woke up after a couple of hours sleep. She was very good at waking up before anyone else when she wanted to do something that she didn't want Jaken or Lord Sesshoumaru knowing about until after it was done. She nudged Shippou. "Wake up, Shippou." she whispered.

He started awake. "Hunh!" was all he could get out before Rin covered his mouth with her hand.

"Sshhh!" she hushed. "Don't wake up Sango!"

Shippou groaned. "Rin, what are you up to?" He knew that it was no good before he asked. "I want to know what's going on. Why is everybody so upset? Even milord is upset and he never gets upset."

"It all has to do with something that Yukiho woman did to papa-Inu when he was pinned to the Goshinboku."

"Uh-huh. What about that pretty lady? She is the one that is upsetting milord."

Shippou looked at Rin out of the corner of his eye. "I'm not sure that upsetting is the right word."

"Whatever. I still want to know what is going on."

"And how do you propose we find out?"

Rin grinned. "We snoop."

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Outside the inn, Rin and Shippou stopped for a moment to collect their thoughts and plan their strategy.

"Alright, Rin. Just how do you suggest that we get the information that you want? Snoopping isn't going to do us any good if we don't snoop in the right places."

"I think we need to go to the woman who got everybody upset. Maybe we can talk her into making everyone happy again."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Shippou shouted. "Inuyasha will kill me if he finds out that I've been to see that woman!"

"Shippou! Keep it down! They will hear us!" Rin shushed at Shippou.

"Of all the stupid ideas!" Shippou continued to rant, sounding suspiciuosly like his adopted father. "Don't you realize how much trouble we will get into if we are caught with her? Just where is your head? Still asleep in bed? I thought you were smarter than to get us into that much . . . . trouble." His voice trailed off as he realized that Rin was covering her face with her hands. "Rin? Rin?" He stepped closer to her and smelt her tears. "Rin? I'm sorry. Please don't cry."

Rin turned her back to him and buried her head deeper into her hands. "I just wanted to know why milord is so unhappy!" she wailed. Suddenly, she spun around and glared at Shippou through her tears. "And you said I was stupid!" Then she spun back around, giving Shippou her back.

Shippou's ears and his tail droopped. "Rin? I'm sorry." She kept her back to him and kept crying. "Rin? Please stop crying. You're not stupid. I was just trying to get you to see that going to that Yukiho woman wasn't a good idea." He paused. "Tell you what, why don't we go find Takara, you know, the one who has Sesshoumaru so worked up. Maybe she can tell us why Sesshoumaru is acting wierd."

Rin's crying had stopped. She looked at Shippou with hope in her eyes. "You mean it?"

"Of course, I mean it." Shippou said, relieved that she had stopped crying. "We can go find Takara and see what she knows."

"Not that, Shippou. You mean that you don't think I'm stupid."

Shippou smiled at Rin. "No, Rin. I don't think you're stupid."

Rin suddenly squealed and threw her arms around Shippou's neck, giving him a big kiss on the check. "I'm so happy you don't think I'm stupid!"

"Rin!" Shippou squeaked, "You're choking me!"

Rin hastily let Shippou go. "Ooopps! Sorry!" Then she looked at Shippou for a moment and smacked him on top of the nose!

"Hey!" Shippou jumped back, rubbing his nose. "What was that for?"

Rin put one hand on her hip and wagged her finger at him. "That was for lying to me! Don't do it again!" Then she smiled at Shippou. "Now, let's go see the pretty lady, Takara." Rin turned and started toward the manor house.

Shippou continued to rub his nose for a moment as he watched her walk away. "Baka!" he growled, under his breath, not sure if he was referring to her or to himself. Rin turned and beckoned for him to hurry up. "Alright! Alright! I'm coming!" 'Man! Are all women this pushy?" he asked the eternal question to himself as he ran down the path to fall in beside the little girl. When he got there, she smiled at him and grabbed his hand, then turned and led him toward the manor.

888888888888888888888888888888888

Sango sat up in bed. Something wasn't right. She looked over to where Rin and Shippou were sleeping. The two forms that she could make out in the low light appeared to be sleeping soundly. She smiled to herself. 'Just my imagination.' she thought, as she drifted back into sleep.

888888888888888888888888888888888

Rin and Shippou had managed to sneak back into the manor and had made their way to the garden. Shippou had convinced Rin that this would be the best place to start. "Everybody was in here at one time. My nose isn't as good as papa Inu's but I think I can track Takara from there. I got pretty close to her and I remember her scent."

"That's great, Shippou!" exclaimed Rin. Then she pouted a little. "I wish I could tell people apart by their scents. I can't even smell them, unless they haven't bathed in a while and then I don't want to."

Shippou chuckled. "I bet you could identify one person by his scent."

"Who?"

"Sesshoumaru. You're with him all the time and I'll bet that you would recognize his scent if he got near you."

"Now that you mention it, I do know what he smells like." Rin's face got detached as she thought about it. "He smells of the forest and of the open air. And, he smells warm."

"Yeah. He smells a lot like Inuyasha." Shippou paused for a second. "There!" he said, in triumph. "I got it! I've got her scent. Let's go find Takara!" Shippou took the lead, Rin right behind him. After going down several halls and turning many corners, Shippou hit a corner and then suddenly jumped back. "Get back!" he hissed at Rin.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Daremo is out there! He's standing guard at a door!"

"What's he doing here?"

Shippou thought furiously. "I bet he's standing guard over Yukiho. Lord Tanaka put her under house arrest."

"But what about Takara? Why does her scent lead here?"

"Yukiho is her adopted mother. I bet they share living quarters."

"So, how do we get in?"

Shippou tapped his mouth with his finger as he thought. "Let me think, let me think." he muttered to himself. Suddenly, he grinned and snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

888888888888888888888888888888888

Daremo stood guard over Yukiho's door. There had been little to break the quiet of the manor since Inutaro had left his mother's apartments earlier. A noise from down the hall brought him to full attention as he turned to see who was approaching. He bowed his head when he recognized his lord. "My lord Tanaka. The prisoner is still within her rooms with her daughter. None have been in since Inutaro left earlier this evening."

"Excellent, Daremo. Now, let me pass. I have things to discuss with Yukiho and Takara before the trial tomorrow."

"As you wish, my Lord." Daremo stood to one side and allowed Lord Tanaka to pass, not noticing the tip of a fox tail that came out below his lord's outer robes.

888888888888888888888888888888888

Kirara came in from doing whatever it was that cats do when they are bored. She yawned and checked on Sango to see if her mistress was well. After sniffing her and satisfying herself that the young woman was fine, she went to check on Shippou and Rin before taking a nap. As she approached the two forms lying on the floor, she realized that something was wrong. They weren't breathing! Quickly, she dashed to forms and nuzzled the nearest one and realized that it wasn't a real body but a pillow covered with a blanket. A quick nuzzle confirmed that the other form was the same. Kirara was nonplussed. 'Where had those kittens gone to?' was her thought. She ran back to Sango and jumped on her, waking her instantly.

"Who? What? Kirara?" Sango asked, in a sleep daze. "Kirara! What's wrong?"

Kirara mewed and ran to the forms on the far side of the room. She transformed into her larger self and grabbed the blanket in her fangs and drug it off of the pillow.

Sango looked at the pillow in shock. "Oh, no!" she whispered. She leapt to her feet and dashed for the door. "Miroku!" she called as she headed for the coutyard where she knew that Inuyasha would be sleeping.

Miroku appeared in the doorway of the room that he had been given. He had been awake, praying and meditating. "What is wrong, Sango?" he asked as he fell in beside her.

"The kids. They have gone off on their own."

Miroku's perverted side smirked. 'Ah, Shippou! I thought you were too young to be thinking of things like that!' However, Miroku's sensible side was more mature. "Might this be one of their practical jokes?" he asked.

"Maybe." replied Sango. "But it doesn't have that feel. I think they went to the manor. Rin was wondering about Takara and Sesshoumaru before she went to sleep. She wanted to know why Takara was upsetting Sesshoumaru so much."

Miroku shuddered slightly in remembrance of the look on the demon lord's face when he came after him for asking the lovely hanyou woman to bear him a child. "I would like to know the answer to that question, as well."

Inuyasha woke swiftly to the sound of running feet. His senses were on immediate alert and he gently shook Kagome to wake her.

"Uuunhh." she protested and burrowed into him.

"Kagome, wake up. Someone is coming towards us at a run. We need to be on the ground when they get here in case they aren't friendly."

Kagome's eyes snapped open in reflex to the possibility of danger. She nodded to show that she was ready and Inuyasha rolled off the branch to land lightly on the ground below just as Sango and Miroku came into the courtyard.

"What's wrong, Sango?" Inuyasha peered behind her and only saw Kirara running sfter her mistress. "Why are you running?"

"Shippou and Rin are missing. We need you to track them."

_growl_ "What is that runt up to?! When I get my hands on him...."

"Let's find him and Rin first." stated Kagome. "Then we will see how to punish him."

Inuyasha looked at Kagome in surprise. "You want to punish him?"

Kagome blushed. "If I am going to be his mother then I need to do what a mother does. Even the unpleasant things. But we will decide his punishment together, you can't just bop him on the head."

_sigh_ "At least he's going to get something for causing trouble, for a change." Inuyasha mumbled, as he made his way back to Sango's room to pick up the children's scent.

"Sit!" _arrgh_ "I heard that!"

With a low growl, Inuyasha peeled himself off the floor and continued on to Sango's room.

888888888888888888888888888888888

Yukiho looked up from her bed as Lord Tanaka came into her room. She had been unable to sleep and was laying there just staring at her shrine to Inuyasha. Quickly, she came to her feet. "Can I help you, my lord?"

"I have some questions for you, Yukiho and for your daughter, Takara."

"Of course, my lord. I'll get Takara." Yukiho left for Takara's sleeping chamber.

"You remember what to ask?" a voice hissed out of nowhere.

"Yes! Now be quiet before someone hears you!"

Yukiho returned with her daughter. Takara bowed to Lord Tanaka and then yawned deeply. "Sorry, my lord." she apologized, then took in a deep breath through her nose. Her eyes widened and she pushed her mother behind her. "You are not Lord Tanaka!" she exclaimed. "Who are you and what do you want?" She bared her claws. "Answer me or ....." She didn't get to finish her threat when Lord Tanaka yelped and jumped backwards. There was a popping sound and the image of Lord Tanaka suddenly broke apart, becoming a little girl and a small kitsune.

"Don't hurt us!" wailed the kitsune as he pushed the little girl behind him, putting himself between Takara and the little girl. "We just wanted to know what was going on! Papa-Inu and Mama-Kagome aren't talking about it! At least not to me!"

"And my lord is acting all strange around you." said the little girl, pointing at Takara. "Rin just wanted to know why." And then she started crying.

Takara's and Yukiho's mouthes dropped open in shock at seeing the two small children suddenly appear. Takara immediately adopted a less threatening posture. "It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you. I just smelled your scent and it wasn't Lord Tanaka's. Please, tell me who you are. I saw you both in the garden today with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru but I didn't get your names."

"My, my name is Shippou." stammered the little kitsune. "I am Inuyasha's and Kagome's adopted son."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Yukiho.

"And my name is Rin." announced the little girl. Her natural good humour and cheerful nature returned to the fore. "Milord takes care of me since he brought me back from the dead."

"What?!" Yukiho and Takara exclaimed.

'Oh, brother!' thought Shippou. 'I thought we were here to get answers, not give them!'

888888888888888888888888888888888

Inuyasha dropped to all fours outside the inn, sniffing the ground. "Their scent leads that way." He indicated the direction that Shippou and Rin had gone in earlier.

"The manor is that way."

"Tell me something I don't know!" snapped Inuyasha.

"Very well. We have company." remarked Miroku.

Inuyasha looked up to see his brother approaching. 'Great. This is all we need. A lecture on how to keep track of pups.'

Sesshoumaru stopped before the group and regarded them, impassively. They could see his nostrils flare as he took in the scents around him. Then he surprised them by sighing! "I see Rin has decided to go off on her own and has taken the kitsune with her."

"You don't sound too concerned."

Sesshoumaru's mouth quirked slightly. "Rin has made a habit of going off when her curiosity gets the better of her. I would assume that she left a dummy of herself and the kitsune to appear that she was sleeping."

Sango's mouth dropped open. "Why, yes! That is exactly what she did!"

"She has fooled Jaken with that on occassion. He has no sense of smell, much like you humans."

"Hey!" Kagome was indignant.

Inuyasha grinned at her. "He's right. You don't have any sense of smell. Now, let's stop the yapping and get after these pups. I bet they are up to no good."

"Of that, you can be sure, brother."

**A/N: Sorry about the lengthy delay. I'll try to do better on my next chapters but I can't promise anything. I am working on a novel and my wife insists that I make that my first priority. I'm allowed one day a week to work on Inuyasha fics._ sigh_ And for those of you who think that I am letting my wife control me, let me tell you a little secret. Most men are controlled by their wives, they just don't want to admit it. Besides, the fringe benifits more than make up for the inconvieniences. I had intended this chapter to be longer, with a confrontation between Inuyasha and Yukiho and a realization by Sesshoumaru about Takara but those will have to wait until the next chapter. It has been too long since I updated and you guys deserve something for your patience. Til next time, Fyrloche.**


	35. Chapter Thirtyfive

Chapter Thirty-five

**A/N: Hi, guys. I got the hamster running in my computer again. We'll see how long he can go this time before he breaks another leg. I'm afraid that I am going to have to get another computer, though. I don't know how many more paperclips I can use to keep it running! In the meantime, I'll write as long as this one holds up. Speaking of writing, it is time for me to get on with it. To Sakura82: Sorry that you found the Yukiho thing freaky, but the story is rated 'R'. I haven't done anything nearly as bad as some 'R' rated movies I've seen. I don't own Inuyasha.**

Inuyasha had his nose to the ground, confirming that they were on the right trail. He straightened up and took the lead, with Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Sesshoumaru following. "They're still headed toward the manor."

As they set out, Miroku attempted to make small talk with Sesshoumaru. "Eh ... Lord Sesshoumaru? I hope that you can forgive me my earlier behavior. If I had known that you were interested in the young hanyou woman I would never have asked her to bear me a child." 'At least not in your presence.' he thought, as he remembered the dark haired hanyou's beauty.

Sesshoumaru's face betrayed no emotion as he slowly turned his head to look at the monk who walked beside him. Miroku swallowed nervously and then Sesshoumaru slowly turned his gaze back towards the front. Without warning, he gave a short leap and landed next to Inuyasha. Inuyasha glanced at him and shrugged. His brother was a mystery to him, and probably always would be. 'At least we aren't trying to kill each other.' he thought. Inuyasha had no illusions. He knew that the chances of friendship with Sesshoumaru were remote. At best, they tolerated each other with a mutual respect for their fighting skills. 'But, it has been nice to have an older brother around.'

"Pay attention to your tracking." reproved the demon lord.

'I take it back!' "If you don't like the way I'm tracking, then why don't you do it" snapped Inuyasha.

"Your tracking is acceptable. Your attention span is not."

_grrr_ "Listen, you..."

"Inuyasha" interrupted Kagome. "The longer you stand there arguing with your brother, the farther away Shippou and Rin are getting."

"My point exactly." Sesshoumaru looked at Inuyasha. "You allow yourself to be distracted too easily."

"And just what gives you the right to lecture me on my tracking skills? You didn't teach me how to track"

"That is a mistake I am endeavouring to correct."

Inuyasha blinked. Did he just hear Sesshoumaru right? That sounded almost ... regretful. "What mistake? My tracking is just fine. I can find anything with my nose." He droppped to all fours to get nearer the scent.

"Do not do that."

"Do what"

"Do not crouch on the ground in that fashion. It gives you the appearance of a dog." Sesshoumaru drew himself up, proudly. "You are inu-youkai. That puts you above a mere dog. Behave in a manner that befits your station."

"I track better in this fashion." Inuyasha grated. "The scent is stronger near the ground."

"I am aware of that, little brother. However, it is not necessary for you to fall to the ground to follow the scent trail."

"Why do you give a damn about how it looks if I track in this fashion? I'm just a lowly hanyou."

"Hanyou, you may be. But the blood of our father flows in your veins. Respect that and behave in a manner befitting that blood."

At this point, Kagome decided that it was time to put an end to the bickering before it got out of hand. "Inuyasha. This is getting us no where. We have to find Shippou and Rin"

_grrr_ "Alright! Alright! Let's go" Inuyasha growled as he stood up and sniffed the air then continued in the direction of the manor.

He didn't see the slight upturn of the corners of Sesshoumaru's mouth.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Shippou sat on the floor and watched Yukiho prepare some tea for them to drink. He had resisted her efforts to get friendly with him. It wasn't that he thought she was dangerous, it was just that he didn't like the fact that she was trying to get Inuyasha away from mama-Kagome. She had been trying to be friendly with him, even offering that he sit in her lap while she told him stories of Inuyasha's youth, but it just didn't feel right.

Yukiho was feeling a little frustrated. She had been doing her best to try and win the affection of the little kitsune who had appeared in her chambers and had claimed to be Inuyasha's son. She had hoped to get him on her side and while he wasn't rude, it was obvious that he was ambivalent about her, at best. She looked at her daughter and felt a pang of envy. She hadn't had any problems making friends with the little girl who now sat in her lap.

Takara listened in rapt attention to the girl named Rin in her lap. Somehow, this felt right, as if this child had always been with her. She felt a sense of wholeness with this little girl that she normally didn't feel. Except when she was in the presence of a certain youkai lord. 'I feel complete around him, too.' That thought scared her. 'I don't even know him! Why does he affect me in that way?' She shook off the thought and refocused on Rin. The little girl was telling her about her lord's steed.

"Ah-Un is a two headed dragon horse that can fly. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if one head got mad at the other. They both have their own brains and each head has it's own personality. One likes to gulp it's food and the other eats it slow, one piece at a time. That's weird, don't you think"

Takara smiled at Rin and gave her a small hug, resting her chin on top of Rin's head for a moment. "That does sound wierd, but they have had all their lives to get used to it." 'Kami-sama!' thought Takara. 'Why does this feel so right? I have only known this sweet child for a few minutes and I feel like I couldn't bear to be apart from her.' She took a deep breath and decided to broache the subject that the girl had mentioned earlier on. "Earlier you said that you had been with Lord Sesshoumaru since he had brought you back from the dead? Surely, you were not really dead"

"Uh-huh, I was. Actually, I met him just before the wolves killed me and milord brought me back to life." Rin stated this matter of factly, as if discussing the weather. "I've followed him ever since."

Tears came to Takara's eyes. "Wolves killed you" she asked in a broken whisper. Yukiho had stopped making tea to look at the child in horror. She had not thought that the child had meant what she said either.

"Yes." Rin grew thoughtful for a second. "I don't remember much of it except running from the wolves and one of them leaping at me to knock me down. I was very scared and I was trying to find milord. I knew that he would protect me. Everything went black and when I could see again, milord was standing over me with his sword in his hand." Rin smiled. "I've been with him ever since."

Rage replaced the horror that Takara had felt. She felt her claws bite into her hand as she clenched her fist, thinking of the attack on this child that she held. 'I'll kill them!' she thought, vicously. 'For hurting her, I'll kill every one of them!' Shaking slightly in reaction to the emotion she was feeling, she managed to keep her voice calm as she asked Rin"What happened to the wolves"

"Inuyasha killed them." announced Shippou, from were he sat.

"Inuyasha-sama did that" Rin asked. "Are you sure"

"Pretty sure. Those were Kouga's wolves and when we first met Kouga, his wolves had just finished killing off an entire village. They attacked us and Inuyasha and Sango killed many of them."

"Who is this Kouga and were can I find him" Takara asked in a low voice.

"Kouga was the prince of the wolf demon tribe. As to where you can find him ..." Shippou paused and grinned a little bit. "Hell would probably be a good place to start. He attacked us when he found out that Inuyasha and mama-Kagome were getting married. He tried to take mama-Kagome away. Inuyasha killed him."

"And he hurt you." Rin added. "I overheard Sango-chan and Miroku-sama talking about it. You nearly died."

Shippou shrugged and blushed. "It was nothing. I was just trying to protect my mom."

Rin climbed out of Takara's lap and went over to Shippou and hugged him. "I also heard that you were very brave."

Takara got up and came over to them. She crouched and put her arms around both of them. "It sounds like you are a very brave young man, worthy of being Inuyasha's son."

Shippou blushed even deeper than before. Then Rin's next statement nearly made him faint.

"Uh-huh. That's why he's my boyfriend."

Takara raised an eyebrow and smiled at the look on Shippou's face. "I see. And does he know this"

Rin looked at Shippou and smiled at him. Suddenly, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "He does now."

And as the women laughed in delight at the look on his face, the stunned kitsune slowly fell over on his side.

8888888888888888888888888888888

Inuyasha and company had made it to the manor. "What are those two up to" he wondered, aloud.

"We'll find out when we find them." promised Kagome. "And it had better be good."

Inuyasha kept his face turned from Kagome so that she couldn't see his smirk. It was good to hear her ire raised at someone other than him!

"Indeed." stated Sesshoumaru. "If this is the type of behavior that the two of them are going to exhibit, I may have to forbid Rin from playing with your kitsune."

"You wouldn't" exclaimed Kagome. "That would break their hearts. They are very fond of each other."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. This woman had absolutely no fear of him and he admired that. "I believe that a short seperation from one another might prove useful in maintaining control over their more creative escapades."

"In other words, show them that we can keep them from seeing each other if they don't behave." Inuyasha grinned. "Not a bad thought. I'm surprised that you came up with it. You haven't struck me as being the fatherly type."

Inuyasha didn't expect the reaction his words brought. Sesshoumaru's face paled and went cold. With visible effort to maintain control, Sesshoumaru turned from his brother and began walking into the manor. He stopped at the entryway and looked back, his expression bleak. "Some of us have had our fatherhood stripped from us." He turned his face forward and walked into the manor, following the scents of the children.

Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku all looked at each other in something akin to shock. Inuyasha finally broke the silence. "Damn! He's lost a child"

"And if he had a child ... "Kagome began.

"Then he had a mate." finished Sango.

"And that means he probably lost her , as well." concluded Miroku. "That ... explains much."

Inuyasha was staring at where his brother had vanished into the manor. "Let's go."

8888888888888888888888888888888

They caught up with the demon lord in the garden. He had regained his composure and they wisely decided to refrain from mentioning what he had said. "They are following the scents of Takara, Yukiho, Inutaro and Daremo."

"Why, in the world, are they following them" Kagome asked in puzzlement.

"To get answers." replied Miroku. "They are inquisitive children and we have not been telling them what is happening. Obviously, they decided to seek out answers to the questions that they have."

"Well, let's find them before they get answers that we don't want them to know."

As the group headed to the door that led to Yukiho's apartment in the manor, Lord Tanaka appeared before them. "I was told that you had been seen in the manor. What brings you into my home at this hour"

"Sorry, Genki, I don't have time for twenty questions. Our kids ran away and came here. We think they have gone to see Yukiho and Takara about what has been going on."

"I see." Lord Tanaka drew himself up. "I was about to go see Yukiho. I will show you the way to her chambers." As Inuyasha began to protest, he continued. "You will need me to order Daremo to let you in. He is standing guard. As a matter of fact, with him standing guard, it is doubtful that the children entered Yukiho's rooms."

"Wanna bet? Shippou is a true kitsune pup and very clever. He figured out a way around Daremo or I'll eat my firerat hakama."

**A/N: And another one is in the bag. I have had a couple of requests concerning what my novel is about. I have decided to include what I have written so far so that I may get your opinion. Please bear in mind that this is a rough draft and is NOT the finished product.**

Prologue

When you hear the word 'vampire', what do you think of? Do you think of Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula? Or maybe you think of Lestat? Or maybe you think of Buffy. It doesn't matter though, does it. None of those vampires exist in reality. Everyone knows that vampires aren't real.

At least not the living dead type. But what about the living ones?

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking about those strange people that dress in black, put in fake fangs, and drink blood. I guess they qualify as vampires, but they are not the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about super strong, blood thirsty beings that can create others like themselves from a bite, if you survive. Creatures that have heightened senses, and that are very predatory. And you are the prey. Beings that want to chase you down for the sport of it and suck you dry.

You're thinking"That's ridiculous! There is no such thing."

You're wrong.

They're out there.

I should know. I'm one of them. And this is my story.

Chapter One

The trouble with telling a story is that you don't always know where to begin. They say that the best place to begin a story is at the beginning. Okay. Which beginning? This sordid little tale has more than one. Actually, it's a moot point. Since I'm telling this story, I'll begin with where I come into it and we'll deal with the rest of the history as it becomes relevant.

I have been unconscionably rude. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wyatt Masters. My friends call me Wy. I am a high school biology and chemistry teacher. I am also the football coach, so I guess that I could be described as an athletic nerd. I am a twenty-six year old who has been married for a little over four years and loving it. I stand about six two and weigh in at two-thirty. I'm not in bad shape but could stand to lose a few pounds. What can I say, married life has that affect on most men. And I've sounded like a bad personels ad long enough. It's time to tell you about the vampires. And how I became one of them.

Vampires. The name chills your blood, doesn't it. I imagine that you are thinking of me as pasty faced and unable to stand the sun. Well, I am pale, but that is a matter of genetics. I was pale before I became a vampire. My family is Scotch-Irish. I inherited red hair and fair skin, so I crisp in the sun without benifit of being a vampire. And I'm rambling. But it's hard to talk about something that changes your life so much, especially when you didn't ask for it.

It's kind of like getting raped.

I don't mean to offend any people who have been raped, but that is the closest analogy that I can come up with. I was attacked and something was taken from me without my permission. Something deeply intimate. The difference is that it wasn't sex; it was my humanity.

Let me tell you about the attack. I had been pulling an all-nighter, grading midterms...

"Hey, babe" I called from my desk.

A beautiful woman appeared in the doorway that led to the bedroom. She stood about five-five, with curly brown shoulder length hair and a body that wouldn't quit. She was wearing a short bathrobe and nothing else. She smiled at me and walked up until she was standing behind me. She leaned over my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek. "What's the matter, lover? You need another break from grading"

I thought about my last break and grinned at her. I returned her kiss with a slight leer. "That would be nice, but I really wanted to ask you if you wanted anything. I think I'm going to make a snack run."

She pouted, playfully. "What" She allowed her robe to fall open slightly, showing her cleavage. "You don't see anything here that you want to snack on"

I growled at her and turned my chair until I could get my arm around her waist. I pulled her to me and kissed her with more passion. "That's not a snack. That's a full meal."

She returned the kiss with equal passion. As the kiss broke, I summoned up all my will power and gently pushed away from her with a groan. "I've got to get these papers graded and I need some fuel for that." I stood up with a sigh and stretched. "I'm going to run down to the store on the corner. You want anything"

She pouted at me and stuck her tongue out. "I might as well have something since you aren't going to do anything." She paused as she thought about it. "Bring me some chocolate."

"Milk or bar" playing our old game.

"Yes." came the old answer.

I snorted at her. "Alright, but don't blame me when you're bouncing of the walls later tonight."

"Oh, really" She smiled at me, provacatively. "You mean you don't want to bounce me off the walls"

I laughed and shook my head. Stepping up to her, I drew her in for a quick kiss. "Do you know that you are a sex maniac" I teased.

"Takes one to know one." she shot back. "Now, hurry up and go! I want my chocolate and I want you to get done at a reasonable hour."

"Alright! Alright! I'm going" I stopped at the door long enough to get another kiss. "I'll only be about thirty minutes." Famous last words.

You know, a thousand what if's have gone through my head since that night. Not a damn one of them has made a difference in what happened. I left our apartment and headed to the store, just like I had done dozens of times before. But this night was different. I wasn't any less alert than normal. I had no illusions of invulnerability. But, I was confident that I could handle most any trouble that came my way if I were mugged. I knew that most muggers only wanted money, so I was prepared to hand it over. After all, it was only money. I wasn't prepared for what happened.

It all started with a scream. I'll admit it, I have a white knight complex. It drives my wife nuts but I have this drive to help out damsels in distress. I have stopped boys from beating up girlfriends and men from beating up wives. I even stopped a frat brother from date raping a girl in college. Got me kicked out of the fraternity for attacking a brother but at least I stopped him. And my testimony got that particular frat house banned at that college. Anyway, I was on my way to the store when I heard a woman scream in an alley that is between my apartment and the store.

I know. It's pretty cliche' to have an attack happen in a dark alley. The trouble is that most cliche' are based in truth.

I ran into the alley and saw two figures in the darkness. I couldn't tell which was which in the gloom, but I had a pretty good idea that the figure holding the other figure against the wall with it's head buried in the others neck and chest was the guy and the figure being pushed against the wall, beating at the back of the other was the girl.

"Hey" I yelled. "Let her go" Sounds cliche' again, doesn't it. Fortunately, that is all that is needed to break up most attacks. Attackers don't usually like witnesses, so they run when one comes up. Unfortunately, it didn't work. The figure that I assumed to be the man's raised it's head and glared at me with a hissing snarl, then went back to the neck of the other figure.

**A/N: As I said earlier, this is a rough draft and I would appreciate any comments or criticisms. I want to write something that people will want to read, so I need input from you guys as to what can be done to improve my writing. Thanks, Fyrloche.**


	36. Chapter Thirtysix

Chapter Thirty-six

**A/N: First things first, I wish to thank everyone for their kind reviews of my last chapter and for the kind words for the beginnings of my novel. I would like to say thanks to LunaML and SimplyALady for their advice, "Appreciate it, Ladies!". Next, I would like to thank all those who read and reviewed my attempt at a lemon. I am glad that you liked 'One Night Stand'. Since it is a one shot, I thought that I would issue my thanks here. By the way, a 'Thank you.' to Ladyhwk for reminding me that I need to update my bio info! Oh yes, one other thing, to SimplyALady: My dear, I stand 6'4" and weigh a little over 300 lbs. Poking me in the arm and threatening me for an update could be a bad thing, _laughs_, but it isn't. I'm used to fiesty women; my wife is one! Truly, I don't mind the friendly threats. I take them as they were meant to be, a fun way of letting me know that you like my work and are just a little impatient with my writing pace. Anyway, it is time for me to attempt to entertain you again. _hums 'Let Me Entertain You'_ Honorable mention to the person who can get that obscure reference. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha or his brother, I'm just borrowing them for a little while.**

Daremo did a double take when he saw Lord Tanaka come around the corner with Inuyasha and the others.

"M,my lord? How did you get out here?"

"Out here?" repeated Tanaka. "What do you mean, 'Out here?' This is the first time I have been here this evening."

"But I let you in earlier." Daremo insisted.

Inuyasha started laughing. "Pay up, Genki! I told you he would get past Daremo."

Daremo was looking confused. "My lords? What is going on? Who is 'he'?"

Kagome giggled at the look of confusion on Daremo's face and took pity on him. "We think Shippou and Rin decided to see Yukiho and Takara."

"So, he impersonated Lord Tanaka?"

"It would appear so." answered Miroku. "He is a most resourceful kitsune."

"Yeah." said Inuyasha, with some fondness. He glanced at Kagome. "Let's go get the runt." As he stepped toward the door, Daremo interposed himself.

"I cannot let you pass without permission from my lord."

Inuyasha looked at him in disbelief. "Daremo, just who do you think that is?" he indicated Lord Tanaka.

"He could be the kitsune and the real Tanaka could be in Yukiho's chambers."

Inuyasha's mouth dropped open. Then he snapped it shut and glared at Daremo. "Genki? Will you handle this?"

Genki shook his head. "Daremo, I admire your dedication to duty. That is one of the reasons that you have been my most trusted vassel. However, I must also admit, that at times, your mental capabilities can be found lacking. Let him pass, Daremo."

"Your pardon, my Lord, but I have no prof that you are the true Lord Tanaka."

Genki's eyebrow lifted. "Very well, Daremo. You require proof? Then I shall tell Takara about a certain teenager that I caught spying on her in her bath."

Daremo's face went red and then white as he heard Miroku chuckle, Inuyasha snort, and Kagome and Sango giggle. "M-m-my lord? You wouldn't?"

"Do you accept me as the true Lord, then?"

"Hai, my Lord! My lord Inuyasha? You may enter."

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at his cousin. "Thank you, cousin."

Genki gestured toward the door. "Anytime, cousin."

8888888888888888888888888888888

Yukiho and Takara looked up at the sound of the door opening. Hope sprang into Yukiho's face as she saw Inuyasha. It was quickly dashed by the look on his face and by the presence of his companions.

Shippou and Rin had looked up, as well. Their reaction was slightly different. Both 'Eeeped!' in sudden fear. Rin burrowed down in Takara's arms to try and hide from her lord. Shippou scooted around behind a futon and began with, "Mama-Kagome? Papa-Inu? What are you guys doing here?"

"Oi, runt!" Inuyasha took a step toward his son. "You know why we are here. Now get your tail over here!"

Said tail drooping, Shippou complied, with a mumbled "Hai, papa-Inu." When he stood before his adopted parents, he began to sniffle.

"None of that! We haven't punished you, yet." As Shippou looked at him with some hope of a repeive in his eyes, Inuyasha clarified. "Your mother _(Yukiho cringed at his choice of words)_ and I have to decide on your punishment. We actually favor something that your Uncle thought of." Inuyasha started to nod his head in Sesshoumaru's direction, but stopped when he saw the expression on his brother's face.

For his part, Sesshoumaru had been ignoring the by-play between Inuyasha and his kitsune son. His primary concern was Rin. He had seen her when he had first entered the room and it had surprised him to see her in Takara's arms. Or, perhaps it would be better to say, that the feeling he got from seeing Rin in Takara's arms is what surprised him. It warmed him to see her smiling with his ward in her lap. He felt a warm pulsing at his side, and without thinking about it, laid his hand on the hilt of Tensaiga. His vision jumped and he had a sudden expansion of his sight. A form overlaid itself on Takara, like a translucent shadow that mimiced her movements. As his eyes adjusted to what he was seeing, the shadow seemed to become very familiar to him. That was when Inuyasha turned to look at him.

"Sesshoumaru?" Sesshoumaru turned his head to look at his brother. His eyes were drawn to his brother's mate. He saw the same overlay on Kagome that he saw with Takara. It was of the miko, Kikyo and he realized that it could only mean one thing. He quickly looked back at Takara and saw her and the overlay looking at him in concern. Now, he could see the shadow clearly and it rocked him to his core. It was his mate! His control snapped and his long pent up pain and loneliness poured into him. "Takara!" he groaned and then leapt to her side. Gathering both her and Rin up in his arm as if they were nothing, he spun to glare at the gasping people around him. He growled savagely and then transformed into a ball of light before shooting through the ceiling.

Inuyasha stared at the hole in the ceiling with the rest of the people that had been left behind. Dimly, he heard the babble of voices asking what was going on and Yukiho screaming at Sesshoumaru to bring back her daughter. What was echoing in his mind was Sesshoumaru's last words before he left. His growl had been in the language of the inu-youkai and had consisted of two words; "My mate!"

**A/N: Sorry this is so short but I have been sick with the flu and I just wanted to get this one over with. I'll make it up to you, I promise. Besides, I had a bit of writers block over this and now I think its over. _crosses fingers_ At least, I hope so.**


	37. Chapter Thirtyseven

Chapter Thirty-seven

**A/N: Hi, guys. Sorry about the delay, but I just haven't been very motivated lately. Too much work and not enough play makes Fyrloche a very dull boy! Of course some people would say I'm pretty dull anyway, more's the pity. Oh, well. Now it's time to get on with this story. By the way, I don't own Inuyasha, but if enough of us get together, maybe we could stage a hostile takeover. **

Inuyasha was still staring at the hole in the roof when Inutaro came running into the room.

Inutaro went straight to his weeping mother. "Mother! What happened?"

"He took Takara!" Yukiho wailed.

Inutaro went still. "Who took Takara?" When his mother didn't answer but continued to wail, he took hold of her shoulders and shook her, lightly. "Mother, who took Takara!" he demanded. He felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned to look into the eyes of Kagome.

"Sesshoumaru took your sister."

Inutaro was startled. "What? Why?" Then he growled, low and deep. "Never mind! I don't care why, I'm getting her back." He ran to the hole in the roof and was about to leap through it when another hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"No, you're not."

Inutaro stared at his father in shock, as did everyone else in the room. He shook of Inuyasha's hand. "I have to get her back before he hurts her!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Trust me, he isn't going to hurt her!"

"And what makes you so sure of that?" asked Inutaro, belligerantly.

"Indeed, cousin." Lord Tanaka had come up on the pair, as had the others. "What makes you say that? Just because he is your brother?"

"Not hardly!" Inuyasha snorted. A look of concern crossed his face. "Sesshoumaru called her 'My mate' in inuyoukai before he went through the roof, so I kind of doubt that hurting her is what he has in mind."

"WHAT!" bellowed Inutaro. "Why would he call his mate?"

"I don't know! But I'll bet that a certain little toad knows what's up. He's been acting wierder than usual lately and I'm betting that he could shed some light on this."

Yukiho had stopped weeping and had come up to Inutaro's side. "Inuyasha, please help me! Please bring my daughter back!"

Inuyasha looked at her coldly. "Why should I help you?"

Yukiho's eyes teared up. "Please, Inuyasha! She has nothing to do with what is going on between us."

"Yukiho's right, Inuyasha." Kagome's voice carried over Yukiho's tears.

Inuyasha grimaced and turned his head to look at his mate. He should of known that her soft heartedness would soon kick in.

"You know I'm right. Takara is innocent in all this."

_groan _"I know that!" _sigh_ "Alright, Yukiho. I'll follow Sesshoumaru and make sure that she is unharmed. But, only after I talk to Jaken. He has answers to some of the questions as to why Sesshoumaru suddenly thinks he has a mate and why Takara is it."

"I'm going with you!" Inutaro was belligerant.

"I don't think so." Inuyasha looked at his son in irritation. "You're even more of a hot head than I am and I don't need to keep you from getting killed by my brother! I'm going to have enough trouble getting close to him with him being in full mate protective mode."

"She's my sister!" shouted Inutaro.

"That won't keep Sesshoumaru from killing you if you try to take his 'mate' away without his permission!" Inuyasha rounded on Yukiho in frustration. "Didn't you teach this pup any youkai etiquite?"

"Like you have ever stood on etiquite." muttered Shippou.

"You, shut up! You're still in trouble for leaving without our permission." Shippou eeped and ducked behind Kagome. Inuyasha growled and looked back at his son. "If you promise to behave yourself and do everything I say, and I mean everything, I will let you come with me."

Inutaro managed to look sullen and eager at the same time. He nodded his head and said, "Whatever it takes to get my sister back."

Inuyasha grunted. "Alright then. Let's go see a toad about a dog."

888888888888888888888888888888

Jaken had been following the trail of his master. He was tired and irratable. He had gotten lost in the woods trying to find his way back to the inn. After several hours of wandering, he had finally come upon a road leading back into town and had gotten to the inn only to find that his lord had gone out in search of Rin. "Miserable girl!" he muttered. "Even when I'm not with her, she finds a way to make my life worse!" He then let out a deep sigh, looked to the heavens with a 'Why me, Kami-sama?' look, and set out to follow his lord. Jaken had just reached the manor house when a globe of light erupted from the roof. Jaken's eyes widened and he gasped as he recognized it as Lord Sesshoumaru. "Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru! Wait for me, my lord!" Jaken took off in all haste to follow his lord. Unfortunately, he was too busy keeping an eye on which way the orb of light was going to pay attention to where he was going. At full speed, he slammed into a column and knocked himself out cold.

And this was how Inuyasha and Inutaro found him.

8888888888888888888888888888888

A sudden shock of cold water brought Jaken to immediate wakefullness. "Aaaahhhh!" he screamed. "Who? What? Where?" he sputtered, then he shook his head. Not a good idea. Both his hands went to his head and he groaned.

"Ooohhh! My head!" He looked up to see Inuyasha, who was holding a bucket, and Inutaro watching him. He immedately launched into a tirade. "You miserable hanyou! What did you hit me with and why did you dump water all over me? I have to find Lord Sesshoumaru." He got up and began to stagger in the direction that he had last seen the ball of light going. Began is the operative word. He suddenly found himself dangling from Inuyasha's claws.

"Not so fast, Jaken. We are going after Sesshoumaru but not until you answer a few questions." Inuyasha shook him slightly, for emphasis.

"And if I refuse?" blustered the little toad demon.

Inutaro cracked his knuckles, slowly and loudly. Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow at his son and grinned. "That might not be a good idea."

Jaken paled. "I see your point." he agreed, quickly. He sighed, deeply. "Very well, since I aparently have no choice but to answer your foolish questions so that you will let me go to my lord, get on with it." He was not prepared for the first question, though.

"Why would Lord Sesshoumaru kidnap my sister and call her his mate?" Inutaro asked, before Inuyasha could get a chance to say anything.

Jaken paled even more, turning so light a green that Inuyasha became alarmed. "Stay with us, Shorty. Don't go fainting on us now! We need answers!"

Jaken visably gathered his wits. "What happened? Tell me, quickly! I need to know what happened before my lord took the Lady Takara."

Somewhat taken aback by this sudden change in Jaken, Inuyasha set the toad demon down and knelt beside him. "Damned if I know. All I saw was him staring at Takara with his hand on Tensaiga, then he looked at Kagome, then back at Takara. He rushed over, grabbed her and the kid, Rin, growled 'MY mate!' in inuyoukai and then blasted through the roof. Does that help or has my brother finally gone crazy?"

Jaken sat down, heavily. "Oh, my poor lord." he moaned. "I was afraid this would happen ever since I saw that hanyou girl."

"Jaken, you're not helping! What are you babbling about!" Inuyasha was getting frustrated. "What is so special about Takara?"

"She is the very image of my lord's deceased mate." Jaken said in a subdued voice.

"What!"

"Except for the ears, you stupid hanyou, she looks exactly like Lord Sesshoumaru's deceased mate, whose name was also Takara." Jaken said in some exasperation, as if this were common knowledge.

"I never knew he had a mate. I didn't think any woman would put up with him!" He held up his hand at the murderous look that Jaken shot him. "Alright, alright! No more cheap shots! What happened to her?"

Jaken hesitated and then, to Inuyasha's astonishment began to cry. With a halting voice he told them the tale of rape and murder, and of how his lord had found her and their child. Inuyasha's ears flattened against his head and he growled, low and vicious. "Damn them!"

"They are already damned!" Jaken replied with satisfaction. "My lord hunted them down and slew them all, except for the bandit leader. My lord's hatred for him and his thirst for revenge was never satisfied, but he was slain in a fire. Of all the bandits, my lord wanted Onigumo the most."

Inuyasha turned white and his jaw dropped open. "Who did you say?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

Jaken looked at Inuyasha in puzzzlement. "Onigumo. He was the leader of the bandits. He had seen the Lady Takara and lusted after her so he found a way to get at her." Jaken looked at Inuyasha in mystifacation as the hanyou got visably upset and enraged. "What is your problem?"

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" swore Inuyasha. "I have to find Sesshoumaru for another reason than Takara now."

"What?" exclaimed Inutaro. "Why?"

"He needs to know that Onigumo didn't die in that fire."

Jaken gasped. "He didn't! B,b,but what happened to him then?"

Inuyasha's voice was grim. "He became Naraku."

**A/N: Good Lord, that was the worst case of writer's block I have ever had! I think that the dam is broken now and I can get back to my creative work again. I apologize for the lengthy delay in writing this but I hope that it was worth the wait. The next chapter will be much sooner, I promise. I am also going to be writing a chapter for 'Be Careful What You Do'. I had a request for a chapter, so I thought 'Why not?'. See ya' later, Fyrloche. P.S. -- To Simply a Lady: I like the name of Inuyasha and Kagome's son in your fic 'Sweet Sensual Heat'. I wonder where you got it from? Bye.**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-eight

**A/N: Hi, guys. Time to see what new mischief I can bring to our hero. As always, I don't own Inuyasha. **

Takara was angry. Angry at Sesshoumaru for kidnapping her and angry with herself for not resenting it as much as she should! 'By the gods, I should be fighting him, but, for some reason, I can't bring myself to!' This thought confused and frightened her. Sesshoumaru had brought about strange feelings in her everytime she was around him but fear had never been one of them. On deeper reflection, she realized that she wasn't afraid of Sesshoumaru. She was afraid of her feelings. She had never felt this way about any of the men or demons who had courted her before.

Courted. That was the problem. That was the reason she was mad at this dog demon lord that held her. 'He's just taking it for granted that I will be his mate!'

'Don't you want to be?' asked a voice in the back of her mind.

That brought her up short. 'I don't know!' she thought back, in exasperation. 'He makes me feel things that I haven't felt before, but that doesn't give him the right to take me away from my home without my permission!'

'So, he should have asked you first?' the voice asked her, sardonically.

'Yes! I mean, no! Ooohhh! I don't know what I mean!' Takara's attention from her internal debate was distracted by a stiring in her arms. She looked at the child that she held with a surge of affection. Rin was looking back at her and smiling.

'Now this is strange.'

'Strange?' asked her voice in her head. 'We have been grabbed by a very handsome demon lord, surrounded by a ball of light, blasted through the roof of our home, and are now flying through the air away from said home and you are just now finding something strange. This I have got to hear!'

'What I feel for this child. I have not known her but for a few hours, and yet, it is as if she where my own!' Takara tightened her grip on Rin and felt Rin snuggle in closer. A fresh surge of unexplained emotion went through her. 'I have always loved children and have wanted my own, but I have never felt this way about a child before.' She turned her gaze away from the child to the demon who held her. 'Or, a man.'

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Sesshoumaru noticed the woman in his arms regarding him. He did not smile, but his expression softened in amusement at the spark of anger he saw in her eyes. His heart beat increased slightly in anticipation at the thought of arguing with her. He had always loved the fire that had been in her. She had never feared him and, while she had always been a dutiful mate, she never hesitated to let him know if he had done something to get on her bad side.

And, it didn't hurt that the mating after such arguments had been intense.

'She is not Takara.'

'Yes, she is.'

'No, she is not. She is the reincarnation of Takara. Do not make the mistake of thinking that this woman is identical to our mate.'

'I do not care.'

'I do.'

'It matters not. I have her back now, and I will not lose her again.'

'Think, baka! Use your brain instead of your instincts. If you continue on this course, you will drive her away.'

That thought brought him up short, in his mind. 'Impossible.' he protested. 'She loves us.'

'Her soul loves us.' corrected his internal voice. 'The body and mind that houses that soul is attracted to us, but it has not developed the depth of emotion that we seek.'

'Then I must make her love me body and soul.' he thought back. The answer he received from his internal arguer surprised him.

'I concur. But, we must not rush this. We must court her as we did the first time.'

'I do not wish to wait that long.'

'Nor do I, baka! But I would rather wait that long than lose her again because of our lust.'

'A-HA! I knew you wanted her!'

'I do not deny it.' The cool, rational part of Sesshoumaru's mind began to reassert it's control. 'But I will not let it rule me.'

'Wait!' His emotional side ressisted. 'If you are not careful, YOU will drive her away from us as well.'

'How so?'

'You are too controlled, too dispassionate. She will think that we have no feelings for her and that will drive her from us!'

The rational Sesshoumaru contemplated this. 'There is truth in what you say.' he admitted, grudgingly. 'What do you propose?'

Sesshoumaru's emotional side surged with excitement. 'Some of both of us. What we were in the beginning with Takara.' He felt his rational side think back on that time.

'But we were so ... awkward.'

'Not that far back!' Emotion shuddered at THAT thought. 'I meant to after we had won her. When we were relaxed, content, and in balance.'

'Meaning that we have been unbalanced.' Ration thought in amusement.

'It was necessary for our survival.' Emotion countered. 'I could not deal with life without her, but now that we have her again we can be ourself once more.'

'And, what of our brother?'

Emotion was startled. 'What brought that thought up?'

'If we are to be whole, we must think of other things besides our mate. And, how we are going to handle them.'

'Let us deal with the mate first, then we will think about our brother.'

'Very well. But we will have to deal with it.'

'Eventually.' Emotion sighed. 'Well, we need to get this over with. Let's land and try to explain this to Takara.'

'I wonder if this body is as hot tempered as the last.' mused Ration.

Emotion grinned. 'I hope so!'

Ration shook his head in disgusted amusement. 'I forgot how much of a hentai you are.'

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Takara felt their descent. She began to tense in anticipation, unsure of what was going to happen when they reached the ground. As the light faded from her vision and she became aware of her surroundings, Sesshoumaru gently lowered her to the ground and released her when she had her footing. He stepped back from her and looked at her with a bemused expression on his face. She returned his look, unsure of what to say. Part of her wanted to attack him and demand that he explain himself then return her to her mother. Another part wanted him to explain without questioning him. And, a third part of her was seriously wondering if he was going to try something and if she would fight him if he did!

Rin broke the silence with a squeal of delight as she took in their surroundings. Takara finally took notice of the field that they had landed in. It was full of wildflowers and Rin was insisting on picking some.

"Please, milord?" begged the child in Takara's arms. "I won't go far. There are so many pretty flowers here, I don't have to. Please?"

Sesshoumaru sighed in his mind as he envisioned garlands of flowers from his ward, but he kept his face impassive. "Do as you please, Rin. Keep within my sight."

Rin squealed again and twisted in Takaras arms to be set down. When Takara had set her on the ground, she grabbed the hanyous hand and began to drag her with her. "Come with me, Lady Takara! Let's pick some of the pretty flowers for Lord Sesshoumaru!" Before Takara could answer, Sesshoumaru spoke.

"No, Rin. She may not pick flowers with you at this time. I must speak with her."

Rin smiled brightly at Sesshoumaru. "Hai, milord!" she said as she released Takara's hand, turned and skipped into the field, stopping occasionally to pick a flower that caught her attention.

Takara watched her skip away. She turned to face Sesshoumaru with a smile on her face. "She is a special child, isn't she?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow slightly, but said nothing. As the silence stretched on, Takara felt a slow burn build. "You had something you wanted to say?" As the silence stretched on, the burn built at a faster pace. "An apology, perhaps?" she prompted. "Or, at least an explanation."

"I never act in such a way that needs an apology. All my actions are justifiable, and therefore I have no need to apologize." Sesshoumaru stated with assurance. His eyes took on an amused glint as he watched Takara's mouth drop open. "As for an explanation, I am not in the habit of explaning my actions."

Takara closed her mouth and growled in anger. "Then it is time to learn some new habits!"

'Here it comes!' Emotion thought.

'We didn't go too far, did we?' Ration asked.

Takara took a step up to Sesshoumaru. "How dare you take me from my home!" She began to pace in front of the demon lord as she shouted. "Just because you are a lord doesn't give you the right to steal me from my mothers house. And, it doesn't give you the right to call me your mate! You could at least ask me before making such claims!"

Sesshoumaru's heart skipped a beat. "What did you just say?"

Takara stopped pacing and reviewed what she had just said in her rant. She paled, slightly. "I-I-I said that you could have asked me before making such a claim." she stammered. Then she squared her shoulders and faced him. "You could ask me to be your mate. Or do you just take what you want from a woman, claiming her against her will?"

Sesshoumaru's face became cold, all hint of amusement gone. "I will return you to your home." he said, flatly, and turned his back to her, going after Rin.

Takara was thrown off balance by this sudden change. One moment he had seemed to be enjoying their argument, and had been amused by her anger. Now, he was closed off. She thought about what she had just said and then remembered what her mother had told her about her aunt. 'Oh, no!' she thought, in anguish. 'I never meant to imply that he would rape a woman!' "Lord Sesshumaru! Please, wait!"

He continued to walk toward where Rin was gathering flowers.

Takara ran until she was in front of him and dropped to her knees in front of him. "My lord, please forgive me!"

He stopped in front of her. She raised her head to look at his face. His face was still and expressionless, but his eyes ... his eyes told another story.

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul. Takara looked into that window and began to cry at what she saw there. "My lord, I never meant to hurt you. I spoke in anger and never meant to imply that you would take a woman by force, that you would rape her." Takara saw him flinch at that word. "My mother told me of my aunt and that you were her mate." Takara paused. "She told me of how she died." Fresh tears fell from her eyes. "I am so sorry, my lord! Pease forgive me!" She bowed her head again and wept.

Sesshoumaru slowly dropped to one knee before Takara. He reached out with his hand and took one of hers from her knees and then stood, drawing her up to a standing position, as well. "Do not kneel before me." he said, softly. " I do not require it."

Takara threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his hand to her hair and began stroking it. He even went so far as to raise his hand enough to stroke one of her ears. She shuddered under his touch.

Emotion noticed the shudder. 'You know,' he said, as he stroked her ear again, 'these ears may not be such a bad thing after all.'

Ration shook his head. 'Hentai!'

"Why do you make me feel this way?" Takara asked, in a whisper.

"What do you mean?" countered Sesshoumaru, still stroking her hair.

"I barely know you. I only met you yesterday." She raised her head and turned her face to look at his face. "But I feel as if I have known you for all my life and that I have loved you for all that time."

"Loved?" asked Sesshoumaru, in shock.

"Hai. I love you, Sesshoumaru."

"Now isn't this a pretty picture." A cold voice interrupted from behind Sesshoumaru.

'I know that voice!' thought Sesshoumaru as he spun around to see Kagura standing with soldiers flanking her and Rin by her side.

**A/N: I'm going to put on my bullet proof vest now. I hope that you have enjoyed this little romp. Sorry for the delay in posting but the hampster that powers my pc died and I had to defibrelate the little fellow. In the process, I lost all my stories. I would cry but I'm a guy and we don't do that. We smash things instead. Anyway, I was able get my computer up and running for now, until we get our new one out of lay-away. I have a lot of catching up to do so we will see you soon. Take it easy, Fyrloche.**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-nine

**A/N: Hi guys! This chapter should garner some hate mail since I am going back to the end of 37 instead of the end of 38. So what, I'm the author and I can do what ever I please! _nyah!_ _sits back and grins_ I really am having a lot of fun with this. By the way, thank you for all the wonderful reviews, though I must admit that having my parentage brought into question by Pitbull was less than amusing. No hard feelings, chief. I've been called worse. Well, enough chit chat. Time to get to work. But, first, the disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha...yet.**

"He needs to know that Onigumo didn't die in that fire."

Jaken gasped. "He didn't! B,b,but what happened to him then?"

Inuyasha's voice was grim. "He became Naraku."

Those words echoed in Jaken's mind. His mouth dropped open and he began to pant as his grip tightened on his staff of skulls.

Inuyasha was shocked at the change in this little demon. His aura had changed. Even though he was still of diminutive size, suddenly Jaken appeared dangerous. He was even more surprised at the voice he heard when Jaken finally spoke.

"That bastard!" screamed the toad demon. "That stinking low-life hanyou! He knew all this time what he had done to my lord and came to him with deals and promises, then attacks and betrayals, trying to absorb my lord into himself and, all the time, laughing at us for what he had done to Takara-sama!" Jaken foamed at the mouth from the emotion of his rant. "Damn him! May the gods damn him to the lowest level of hell!" He paused and looked at Inuyasha. "We must find my lord and inform him of this at once. This is vengence that has been to long denied."

"Hold it, Jaken. I have something to settle with Naraku myself. I don't want Sesshoumaru to take over and kill that bastard without me!"

Jaken looked at Inuyasha with disdain. "My lord's claim of vengence is of more importance than yours. You only lost a woman that was close to you. Lord Sesshoumaru lost his mate and child before you suffered your lose. His is the prior claim!"

_grrr_ "Maybe so, but I've been fighting him for monthes now and he's mine!"

"My lord will have something to say about that!" huffed Jaken.

"Eh, excuse me." interrupted Inutaro. Jaken and Inuyasha turned to look at him. "If you two will stop fighting, we can get my sister away from Sesshoumaru. Then you can fight over whoever kills this Naraku character."

"Fine then! Let's get going!" Inuyasha picked up Jaken by the front of his tunic. "Were would Sessoumaru take Takara? Which way were they headed?"

"Put me down this instant, you stupid hanyou and I will tell you what direction I saw my lord go in!" Inuyasha dropped Jaken on his rear. "Oooff!" Jaken stood and rubbed his backside, glaring at Inuyasha. "Know this, Inuyasha. I am only helping you because my lord needs to know about Onigumo." With a final huff, the toad demon turned toward the east and started out at a fast trot. "He went this way." he called.

"Let's go, Inutaro!"

"Right behind you, Inuyasha."

As they set out to follow Jaken in a ground eating lope, Inutaro came up beside Inuyasha. "Fath- Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"Who is Naraku?"

8888888888888888888888888888888888

"Now isn't this a pretty picture." A cold voice interrupted from behind Sesshoumaru.

'I know that voice!' thought Sesshoumaru as he spun around to see Kagura standing with soldiers flanking her and Rin by her side.

"Rin." he spoke the child's name calmly. "Come to me. We must be getting back."

Rin smiled happily at her lord and took a step forward to comply with his request. She was stopped by a hand with an ornate closed fan. She raised her eyebrows in question as she looked up at the pretty lady beside her.

Kagura smiled down at Rin. "Stay a moment, child. I would converse with your master." She turned her face back toward the impassive inuyoukai lord with his lovely companion that he had stepped in front of. She smiled at him coldly and felt a pang of jealousy. "So, the great Lord Sesshoumaru has thawed himself enough to have feelings for a woman." she taunted. 'Damn him!' she thought. 'Why couldn't it have been me that he gave himself to instead of this...' Her stare turned incredulous as she realized that the woman he stood with was a hanyou.

"A hanyou?" she asked, softly, the smile fading from her lips. "You would spurn my attentions; me, the mistress of the winds; a full demoness, for a miserable hanyou?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the wind demon. "Spurn your attentions?" He shook his head, slightly. "Kagura, your attention was lost on me. I have no interest in you."

Kagura's face grew even more cold. "I wished for you as a mate, and you never even noticed. How dare you!"

"Kagura." Sesshoumaru's emotion decided to show some compassion. "I lost my mate, years ago. Since that time, I have never noticed another woman, no matter how worthy she is of my attention."

Kagura's cold rage abated, somewhat, until she looked at the hanyou woman standing just behind Sesshoumaru. "What of her?"

Sesshoumaru drew himself up, regally. "She is none of your concern. Now, send my ward back to me and I shall forgive this incident."

Kagura looked down at the child beside her and removed her hand from in front of her. But instead of letting Rin go, she quickly brought her hand down around her shoulders and pulled her in tight against her side. "I think not. I have a growing attachment for this child. I believe I will keep her." Kagura smiled at the anger on Sesshoumaru's face. "Consider it a gift to remember you by." She glanced at the soldiers who flanked her. "Kill them." she ordered.

Ten soldiers composed her bodyguard. Eight drew their swords and surged forward to engage the demon lord. The other two remained back with bows and prepared to shoot at Sesshomaru and Takara. None stood a chance.

'Kagura knows that these pitiful humans won't stop me.' Sesshoumaru thought as he used his claws to kill the first two of the bodyguards to reach him. 'What is she planning?' As the remaining six swordsman moved to encircle him, he drew Tokijin. Looking over their heads to see what Kagura was doing, he was somewhat surprised to see her standing with Rin, looking on with an amused expression on her face. 'What is she planning?' he thought again as he prepared to dispatch the soldiers surrounding him and Takara.

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Kanna stood befroe her lord and master, holding her mirror for him to view.

Naraku smirked at the images that he saw there. He had not expected Kagura to get so lucky as to attack Sesshoumaru in the open, away from Lord Tanaka, but he wasn't going to complain. Then he noticed Sesshoumaru's companion. "Kanna, I wish to see Sesshoumaru's companion. Bring her image up in your mirror." His eyes narrowed in interest as he noted the hanyou's features. "It is she." he said in wonder.

Naraku reached into the sleeve of his robe and pulled out a pulsing red light. "Now, to get Kagura's attention." As he squeezed the light in his hand, his mind went to a day many years ago when he last saw that face. "Soon, you will be mine again." he declared as he looked at the face in the mirror. He smiled. "And, this time I will not have to share you with anyone."

**A/N: Okay. I had origanally planned for this to be a longer chapter, but it has been way to long since I last updated and I decided to throw you guys something to keep your interest. Hope you liked this. I will be getting the next chapter out in a couple of weeks. See ya'.**


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

**A/N: Howdy, folks! Yes, I know, very country, but that's how I am. Thank you for the reviews. I appreciate all of them, good and bad. Do not be afraid to offer constructive criticism. I appreciate any input that will improve my writing. "Input! Need input!" Yes, I love old movies and cartoons so I occasionally will throw in odd sayings. Anyway, I don't own Inuyasha, so I have to settle for the DVD's.**

Kagura watched Sesshoumaru dispatch the soldiers in admiration. Even though she was angry with him for choosing that hanyou over her, she could not help herself. The pleasure of watching him move as he destroyed those humans was intense. His motions were all grace and economy. He seemed to kill the soldiers with only the amount of effort required and no more. And yet, he made it look like a dance of skill and grace that took years to master. Of course, that wouldn't help him when she resurrected them with her 'Dance of the Dead' attack. Her admiration for his fighting skill only went so far. Still, he was fascinating to watch as he moved through the last of the swordsmen surrounding him and turned his attention to the rather ineffective archers. Oh, they had tried, but he was just too fast for them to hit. In the moments that he had been standing still, his concentration had been so complete that he was able to sense the arrows and cut them out of the air with Tokijin.

Her admiration for his skills was cut short by a sudden stabbing pain in her chest. Kagura's pleasure turned to annoyance and not a little fear. She knew then that Naraku was watching her and he had a request of her. 'Damn him!' she thought as she began to move her fan in a strange manner. When her fan came to a certain place, a short wave of pain would lance through her chest. When it came to another place, another swift pain. 'Damn, damn, damn him!' she cursed in her mind, cursing Naraku for this pain and cursing him for coming up with this elaborate code.

Not content with watching her in Kanna's mirror, Naraku had devised a system to communicate with Kagura when he so chose. He would squeeze her heart to get her attention and then would squeeze it at intervals during her fan movements to give her instructions. Each position of her fan had a different meaning, and each series of positions had its own meaning based upon a previous instruction. It was a very complex and painful process to receive instructions, but very effective. Kagura had no choice but to obey for fear that Naraku would cause her pain beyond belief if she didn't follow his message.

When she had received the last of his instructions, her eyes widened. 'You have got to be kidding me!' she thought, in amazement and confusion. Why did he want the hanyou? Frowning, she considered her problem. 'Now, how am I to get her away from the demon lord?' Then she smiled as a plan came to her mind.

888888888888888888888888888888

Sesshoumaru drew Tokijin as the soldiers moved to encircle him. 'I have to protect Takara.' was his first thought. Rescuing Rin was also very important to him, but he sensed that she was in no immediate danger. He and Takara were. As he drew his sword, he considered warning the soldiers off but decided that there was no need. They would not listen to him and it would only waste precious time. He smiled, grimly. Besides, the best warning is one that cannot be ignored.

Moving faster than the eye could follow, he slashed the soldier nearest to Takara across the chest. Gathering himself, he leapt high into the air and did a somersault with a twist so that he came down before the startled soldier on the opposite side of the circle. He used his downward momentum to increase the power of his swing so that, even though the soldier had raised his sword in defense, Tokijin sheared through it as if it were made of paper. His ears caught the twang of a bowstring and whistle of an arrow cutting through the air. With almost negligent ease, he cut the arrow from the air just before it reached him. Darting quickly over to the soldier on the right of him, he decapitated him before leaping into the air again. While in the air, he spared a look at Kagura. She appeared to be moving her fan in preparation for some spell. It was time to end this charade. He had halfway hoped that these humans would realize that they had no chance and would flee, but they were apparently too foolish or too stubborn to realize that they could not defeat him. Sheathing Tokijin while approaching the height of his leap, he drew upon the power of his youki to create his energy whip. Before he reached the ground, his lash had reached out three times to kill the remaining three swordsmen. As he landed, he again heard the twang of bowstrings and this time the whistle of two arrows coming toward him. He prepared to leap out of the way when he realized that Takara was in the path of the arrows if he moved. He spun around to face the oncoming arrows.

"Sesshoumaru!" Takara screamed as one of the arrows embedded itself in his chest. The other one glanced off his armor, but the damage had been done. Or so Takara thought.

Sesshoumaru reached up and plucked the arrow from his chest and looked at the blood on it in fascination. He dropped the arrow and looked at the archers. "It has been many years since a mere human has drawn my blood." he mused. His eyes narrowed as he regarded the archers, who were preparing to fire at him again. "Do not mistake your good fortune for anything other than what it was." Suddenly, he dashed forward and with a quick slash, disemboweled one of the bowmen. Spinning, he leapt at the remaining bowman with his claws extended. The look of fear on the mans face was … satisfying , just before he drove his hand through the bowman's chest. It meant that he had finally remembered his place in the scheme of things, too late to change his fate, but in time to know that he had faced his superior and lost.

Sesshoumaru withdrew his hand from the man's chest and shook it gently to remove the blood from it. Then he turned to stare at Kagura. "That was foolish." he stated. "You honestly did not believe that these mortals would defeat me, did you?"

Kagura smiled at him. Something in her smile put Sesshoumaru on his guard. She seemed too pleased with herself.

"You are right, most noble Lord." she said, mockingly. "I did not expect them to beat you … while they lived." Quickly, she brought her fan up over her head and brought it down in a sharp motion. "Dance of the dead!" she screamed, the wind from her fan increasing as her spell took form.

Sesshoumaru heard Rin scream shrilly from her place beside Kagura, and she heard Takara's choked, "Kami-sama!" as he spun to see the effect of the spell. His mouth turned down in disgust as he watched the men he had just slain raise themselves from the ground. As he prepared to draw Tokijin to destroy these undead men, Tensaiga pulsed at his side. He frowned at his father's sword for a moment and then a grim smile played across his lips. "Let us see what you will do without your army of the living dead, Kagura." he said to the suddenly puzzled wind demon. Drawing Tensaiga, he ran to the first of the dead men and slashed him with the healing sword. Quickly, he ran to all the others, slashing them in passing and restoring them to life. As each man was restored, the shock of his death and resurrection was too much for him to bear. Each collapsed in a heap, retreating into a state of unconsciousness until his mind could cope with everything that had happened.

"It is finished, Kagura." Sesshoumaru said as he healed the last soldier. "You have lost."

"Not yet." cried Kagura. She brought her fan up in a kind of swirling motion, causing a small whirlwind to form …. around Rin!

Rin screamed shrilly again as she was lifted off the ground. "Lord Sesshoumaru!" she screamed.

Sesshoumaru's rage grew as Rin was lifted higher off the ground. "Release her, Kagura, or I will surely slay you where you stand." he growled.

Kagura bowed slightly to Sesshoumaru. "As you wish, my lord." She suddenly made a flipping gesture with her fan that caused Rin to fly up higher into the air and begin to arc down toward the ground.

"Damn you, witch!" Sesshoumaru screamed out as he took off at top speed to try to catch up to Rin before she hit the ground. He heard Kagura's mocking laughter follow him.

"You only said to release her, my lord." she called after him. "You never said where." Kagura smiled in victory as she surveyed the field before her, and the now unprotected hanyou.

8888888888888888888888888888888

'RIN!' Emotion screamed. 'Damn it, old dog, MOVE!'

'If she dies…' Ration began.

'Run now, think later!' Emotion ordered as he pushed for more speed.

Sesshoumaru tried to turn into his energy form to catch Rin, but he had expended too much energy from his previous flight, then with his fight and then with resurrecting the soldiers to transform. So, instead, he ran, his eyes never leaving the little girl as she flew through the air. He watched as she hit the top of her arc and began to fall to earth. 'Damn it, she's too far away!' he thought. Pushing himself to increase his speed, he exerted his will. 'Transform, damn it, transform!' Rin was falling to earth faster. Heart pounding as he watched the child approaching her death, his rage at his feeling of helplessness goaded him to exert even harder. Then he felt it. That familiar tingle swept over him as he changed to his energy form. The ground fell away beneath him as he raced to catch Rin. Mere feet from the ground, he over took and caught her, then fell to earth, hitting on his shoulder and going into a tumble while clutching Rin to his chest. He came to rest on his back. Panting from his exertion, he lay on his back for a moment and sniffed of Rin to make sure she wasn't injured while his mind raced.

'We did it!' crowed Emotion.

'Was there ever any doubt?' replied Ration.

'That was too close.' Emotion said, with a shudder. Then he darkened. 'Now, we can think…' he began.

'… about Kagura and her demise.' finished Ration vehemently.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru heard something that made his blood run cold. In the distance, he heard Kagura shout, "Dance of the Dragons!" He released his hold on Rin, slid her off his chest, and rolled over in one smooth motion. As he pushed himself to his feet, he saw Kagura's whirlwinds strike all around Takara, blasting her off her feet. She didn't move from where she had fallen.

"Takara!" he bellowed, as he began to run back to the fallen hanyou and the wind sorceress.

As he ran, he watched helplessly as Kagura loaded Takara onto her feather and then rose into the air.

She circled above Sesshoumaru for a moment, just out of jumping reach, and taunted the enraged taiyoukai with a malicious laugh. "Don't worry about your little plaything, Lord Sesshoumaru!" she called to him. "I am quite sure that Naraku will let you have her back when he is through with her. That is, if she survives." With a last laugh, Kagura flew away with Takara.

"TA-KA-RA!" screamed Sesshoumaru, but his only answer was a taunting laugh on the wind.

**A/N: Finally! This is one of those chapters that is hard to find an appropriate ending for. Of course, there are those of you out there that would say that this is NOT an appropriate ending, but I think it is perfect for a cliffhanger. _evil grin_ You know how much I love those. On to other news, I must report with some sadness, mixed with relief, that this story only has about 10 more chapters in it. It has already gone on far longer than I ever planned. I will resolve all issues, so don't worry. I haven't forgotten about Yukiho and her bonding to Inuyasha. I think that I have come up with a unique solution, but you won't see that for a couple of chapters, yet. And, the great secret that will change Inuyasha's and Sesshoumaru's relationship forever will also be revealed soon. Now, that I have thoroughly ticked everyone off, I'm signing off to work on 'Ties of Blood and Honor'. See ya' later, Fyrloche. **


	41. Chapter 41

-1Chapter 41

**A/N: It's great to be back! Sorry for the extended absence but life has been interesting of late. My computer started crashing on a regular basis and wouldn't let me save my work to disk. I finally got a new computer so I can start writing again! _yeah!_ I have a daughter graduating from high school, so there are many distractions involved there. I was in a wreck. No major injuries, but I found out that the roof of my truck doesn't feel good when it impacts the top of my head! Ended up with a three day headache, probably not much different than a bad hangover. (Wouldn't know, never been drunk.) I'm a little bummed. I watched Inuyasha 3 and found out that he is about 200 years old. Granted, my storyline isn't strictly canon, but this revelation blows my idea out of the water. _sigh _Oh, well…. Now, on to the story. As usual, I don't own Inuyasha. Of course, all bets are off if I win the lottery.**

"TAKARA!"

The echoes of Sesshoumaru's scream died away as he stared at the spot where Kagura had disappeared with the beautiful hanyou. A growl begun deep in his chest and built as his rage built. He could feel his face begin to lengthen as his transformation into his true demonic form began.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" came a small voice from his side.

He felt his rage and his transformation retreat as his eyes snapped to the source of the voice. Rin had come running after him as he had tried to stop Kagura from taking Takara. She had stopped beside him and was looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"Are you alright, milord?"

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath and returned his gaze to the distance that had swallowed Kagura's feather. "I am unhurt, Rin."

"But you're unhappy and angry."

Sesshoumaru glanced at his adopted daughter and quirked an eyebrow. The child had always been sensitive to his feelings.

"I must follow them." 'I have to get Takara back.' was his unspoken thought.

"Why did the lady take Takara? I thought she was our friend. Was she jealous? She wanted you to be her boyfriend, didn't she?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow again. "It is more complex than that."

Rin sighed and rolled her eyes. "Grownups!" she muttered.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Sesshoumaru almost smiled at the child. A groan startled him out of his amusement. He turned to see one of the soldiers that he had revived begin to try and sit up. Swiftly, he did something that he rarely did. He bent and gathered Rin up in his arm. "It is not safe for you here. I must take you to safety before I can recover Takara." Inwardly fretting over the delay and wishing for someway to insure the girl's safety, he had not even made it to the edge of the field when the wind brought the scent of an answer to his nose. Moments later, Inuyasha, with Jaken on his back, and Inutaro came out of the forest and made a bee line to him as soon as they saw him.

"Where is my sister?" bellowed Inutaro, as he skidded to stop in front of Sesshoumaru. He began to draw his sword. "Tell me!"

He suddenly found himself on the ground, pinned by a very angry taiyoukai. Sesshoumaru had dropped Rin and launched himself at the young hanyou before Inuyasha could react. "DO NOT question me about my mate as if I would harm her! She has been taken and I will get her back!"

"Mate?" exclaimed Inuyasha. "You didn't waste any time did you?"

Sesshoumaru turned his head and glared at his brother with a growl. "That is not your concern." He stood, removing his hand from Inutaro's throat. "It is just as well that you are here. Kagura has taken Takara to her master. He will probably use her as a hostage against my helping you to defeat him." Something in the look that passed between Inuyasha and the toad demon that had hopped off Inuyasha's back made the taiyoukai uneasy. "There is something that you know that is cause for concern?"

Inuyasha drew a deep breath. "Aniki." he began.

Sesshoumaru grew cold. He knew that there was no way that Inuyasha would call him that unless it was dire news.

"I have something to tell you that is difficult." continued Inuyasha. "Jaken told us of your mate and her fate."

Sesshoumaru turned a cold glare at his vassal. Jaken shrank beneath that cold gaze. "I'm sorry, my lord. Please forgive me."

"Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha called out to get his brother's attention. "Aniki, I'm sorry but I have to tell you that Onigumo is still alive."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened in shock. "That is not possible." he declared in a flat voice. "He could not still be alive."

"He's very much alive." spat Inuyasha, in a hate filled voice. "You've met him."

"Impossible!"

"Aniki, he made a deal with a horde of demons and became Naraku."

Sesshoumaru became a statue. He did not blink. He did not breath. He made no move of any type that you could see, until Inuyasha noticed the blood and venom dripping from his clenched hand. Without warning, he began to laugh.

Inuyasha knew his stoic brother well enough that Sesshoumaru's first reaction was not unexpected. His second reaction caught him off guard. There was no joy in that laugh. It was cold, bitter, almost maniacal in its intensity as it started out low and built until he threw his head back in a full throated scream of agony and rage.

Jaken cowered behind Inuyasha. He feared that his lord had lost his sanity. "My lord, please!" he whispered, begging his lord and master to fight off the insanity.

The scream died out and left Sesshoumaru panting. Slowly he brought his head back down until he was leveling his eyes with Inuyasha's. Something unspoken traveled between the brothers, neither knowing exactly what. Was it sympathy, empathy, or some other type of emotion that only family can share in a time of grief? Even they didn't know, only that it was something. Sesshoumaru nodded to his brother. "My thanks, outoto. This Sesshoumaru is in your debt."

Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock. That was the last term he ever expected to be called by his brother.

Sesshoumaru's eyes went to the toad demon who had come out from behind Inuyasha. "Jaken. You are to take Rin to safety. Take her back to Lord Tanaka's." His eyes turned once more to the direction that Kagura had been going. "It is time to finish this, once and for all."

"Now wait just one minute, Sesshoumaru!" protested Inuyasha. "I'll admit that you have a claim on Naraku's ass but so do the rest of my pack. We've hunted him too long to not be in on the kill."

Sesshoumaru leveled a cold gaze at his brother. "I need no help in killing that filthy bastard." he stated evenly. As Inuyasha looked ready to explode, he continued. "However, only a complete fool goes into battle with no allies. I will accept your help." He pointed a finger at Inuyasha. "Know this, the killing blow is mine."

Inuyasha merely looked at him and then drew Tessaiga. He tested the edge with his thumb. "Feh! I ain't making any promises on that, Sesshoumaru. That bastard has gotten away too many times to pick who gets the last shot in." He cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "You got any idea where that bastard is?"

Sesshoumaru turned his back to Inuyasha. "No, I do not. But these men that were following Kagura's orders might."

Inuyasha smirked. "I was wondering where all the bodies had come from. What happened?"

"That is not important at this time." Sesshoumaru stated as he made his way towards one of the men who had just sat up with a groan. "Finding Naraku's location is." He bent and grabbed the groaning man by the throat. "You have died once today." he said, as he pulled the man to his feet. "Unless you wish to do so again, you will tell me where Naraku is located."

The soldier tried to stare into Sesshoumaru's eyes in defiance, but the cold indifference in those eyes was more than he could handle. "I do not know this Naraku, demon!" he blustered.

Sesshoumaru's grip on the man's throat tightened. As the soldiers eyes began to bulge, Sesshoumaru growled. "I do not have time for your ignorance. Who sent you with the wind demoness, Kagura?"

"She was …. demon?" the man gasped out. "But … master not Naraku!"

Inuyasha stepped up beside his brother. "Naraku probably possessed some poor sap and now these soldiers think that they are following the orders of their lord."

"No!" came the strangled protest from the soldier. "I know …. Lord. Can't be!"

Sesshoumaru tilted his head to the side. "You do not sound convinced that he is not possessed. Tell us who your lord is, if you value your life."

The soldier summoned up the courage to look into Sesshoumaru's eyes. "My life is my lord's." he gasped. "I will not betray him."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed in anger and he began to crush the mans throat. A hand on his arm stopped him. "You dare to interrupt?" he snarled at his brother.

"Feh! Killing him won't get us anywhere." He looked at the soldier who was beginning to turn blue. "Look, you don't want to serve a bastard like Naraku. He has no honor and that would taint your own. Tell us who your lord is and where he is located and we will check him out. If he is Naraku, we'll kill him. If he isn't, we'll leave him alone. Fair enough."

Sesshoumaru loosened his grip enough for the man to regain his breath and speak. "How do I know that I can trust you, hanyou?"

Before Inuyasha could reply, Sesshoumaru shook the man. "This hanyou is the second son of the great Inutaisho. He does not lie."

The soldier digested this information and came to a decision. "You swear not to harm my lord if he is not this Naraku you seek?"

"Hai."

"Then his name is Lord Kagowaki. His castle is north of here."

Sesshoumaru unceremoniously dropped the man. "Kagura took Takara in that direction, as well." He glared at Jaken. "You have your orders, Jaken."

"Hai, my lord." Jaken put an arm around Rin. "Come Rin."

Inuyasha looked at Inutaro. "Go with them. Keep them safe."

"I want to rescue my sister." protested Inutaro.

"You will do as I say!" ordered Inuyasha. "Do you know where this Lord Kagowaki lives?"

"Hai."

"Then get the others. Come to the castle. They need to be there for our revenge." He sighed. "I would tell you to leave Kagome behind but she won't stay."

Inutaro turned, picked up Jaken and Rin, and took off.

"Put your hand on my shoulder." Sesshoumaru ordered Inuyasha. When Inuyasha had done so Sesshoumaru exerted his will and took flight. 'I'm coming, Takara.'

**A/N: Ye, gods! That took forever! Okay, I know that this is not up to standard but the next one will be. By the way, thanks to all the people who took time to review this story while I have been away. Also, thank you to the people who have read and reviewed the two one-shots that I posted in the last month. I'm glad that you enjoyed them. Next up is Naraku with Takara. So long, Fyrloche.**


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

**A/N: Greetings, my friends. It is so good to be back. Thank you for the reviews for this story and for the others that I have started. And, to answer one reviewer, I haven't been able to write much on my novel. I lost everything that I had written when my computer crashed so I have to pretty much start over. Bites in a major way! I know that you folks are ready for me to get on with it, so on with the torture. As usual, I don't own Inuyasha.**

Takara awoke slowly. The smells of where ever she was assaulted her nose before she opened her eyes. Damp, mildew, death, corruption, and the musk of lower demons nauseated her, almost causing her to gag.

"You're awake." spoke a soft male voice. It was far from comforting, though. The softness could not hide the malice, the evil contained in the voice.

Takara opened her eyes to see a man before her with long, dark hair. The slight smile that he had on his face was disturbing and somehow familiar.

The man tilted his head to one side slightly as he examined her. "Astonishing!" he exclaimed, softly. "Except for the ears, you are her exact image." He reached out and gently caressed her face, smiling as she jerked away from his hand.

"You have spirit. That is good." The man looked eager. "It is always more satisfying to feel that kind of fire rage against you and be held in check by your own strength."

Takara struggled against the bonds that held her.

"That's it. Struggle against your bonds. It makes your body do such interesting things."

"I'll show you interesting things when I break free." she spat at him.

The man chuckled at her. "That won't be happening anytime soon. Your bonds are a part of my body and I am much stronger than you."

Takara quickly glanced up at her hands and saw that it wasn't ropes that held her, but some kind of pulsating mass. She shivered in disgust and tried to pull her hands out of the bonds again but failed. Panting, she glared at her captor. "I don't know who you are but when Lord Tanaka and Lord Sesshoumaru find out that you have me, they will come for me."

"Indeed?" asked the man. Takara began to have some hope as the man looked slightly worried. "Perhaps it would be better to release you, then, and let you be on your way."

Takara's rising hopes were quickly dashed as the man smiled at her wickedly. "Then again, I would hate to lose my new toy before I had a chance to play with it." He reached out to touch her face again. As she turned her head from his touch, he hooked the neck of her garment and ripped it down, exposing her breasts and stomach, bringing a startled scream from her.

The man stepped back to admire his handiwork as Takara tried in vain to cover herself. She froze as the man reached out again and slowly ran his finger down her cleavage. "Such beauty." he murmured. "And this time I don't have to share it." Suddenly, his hand darted up to grab the hair on the back of her head. Painfully, he yanked her head back. Looking her in the eyes, he hissed. "My name is Naraku, bitch. And before this day is over, you will be screaming it. In pain or in pleasure matters not, but you will scream it." That said he brought his face down to kiss her roughly, forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Takara did the one thing left open to her. She bit down, hard. Her gorge rose in protest as she felt her teeth cut through his tongue, but she was not going to let him do this to her without a fight!

With a muffled curse, Naraku jerked back, blood streaming from his mouth. Takara felt a moment of triumph as she spat out the piece of tongue that she had in her mouth. That moment quickly passed as the piece of tongue began to squirm across the floor until it reached Naraku's foot, where it merged with his body. As she watched, he spat a couple more times, and then stuck out the stump of his tongue. She watched in disgust as the flesh writhed and the tongue reformed itself. She barely had time to take this in before his arm began writhing and transformed into a tentacle that slashed out and backhanded her.

"I trust that this has shown you the futility of fighting me." Naraku stated, calmly. "As you can see," he stuck out his tongue, transformed it into a snakes tongue, and then pulled it back into his mouth, "you cannot harm me permanently. However," he brought his tentacle back to slap her again, "I can do a great deal of damage to you. Behave and you might live through this day."

Takara drew herself up as best she could. "You may be able to rape me but I will never submit to you."

Naraku shrugged. "Have it your way. Personally, I like it better when you fight. It makes it that much sweeter when I break you." He moved in and grabbed the ripped edges of her clothing, preparing to rip it the rest of the way off her when a massive explosion rocked the castle.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

_Minutes before_

"There's the castle." Sesshoumaru stated to Inuyasha. He began to increase his speed.

"Slow down, Sesshoumaru. I've been thinking and I've got a plan."

"What plan of yours could do us any good?" growled Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha smirked. "Depends on what you can do." At Sesshoumaru's raised eyebrow, Inuyasha explained his plan. Sesshoumaru's eyebrow went even higher. Slowly, he smiled a vicious smile.

"Outoto, I need to reevaluate my opinion of your intelligence."

"Feh!" Inuyasha snorted, still smirking. "I've always said that I ain't stupid."

"True." conceded Sesshoumaru as he began to put Inuyasha's plan into action. "Just uncivilized, ill mannered, and rude."

"A guys got to have some fun somehow." Was all Inuyasha had time to retort, before the brothers began their attack.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Naraku left Takara in the dungeons of his manor house as he raced out to see what had caused the explosion. He entered his courtyard to find it in a shambles, with one of the walls of his fortifications blown away. A massive, three legged dog stood in the gap were his wall had once stood and a familiar figure in red stood on its back with a huge sword.

His rage at being interrupted escalated as he saw who it was that had interrupted him. "Damn Inuyasha and his high and mighty brother!" He watched as his men rallied and formed ranks to try to repel the invaders. 'Typical humans. Thinking they can fight those two. At least they will provide a distraction until my true forces come to my aid." He smirked at the thought. 'Soon, I will add the great dog lord to my substance, and then I will relish his anguish as I take his new woman.' This thought pleased him as he watched the soldiers begin to attack Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Inuyasha's plan had been simple. Sesshoumaru's dog form was damn near irresistible. He figured that a huge white dog dropping out of the sky would have an unnerving effect on the soldiers that inhabited the castle. Of course, unleashing a Kazi no Kizu at the same time as Sesshoumaru smashed into the wall didn't hurt. Sesshoumaru glared at the soldiers as they began to rally and growled.

"Don't kill them." Inuyasha admonished.

'Do not presume to tell me who I may kill and who I may not kill. If they get in my way, they die.' Sesshoumaru growled in inuyoukai.

Inuyasha shook his head. "Growling like a dog and it still sounds like you've got a stick up your ass."

'If you don't want any humans to die, get them out of my way.'

"I'm working on it!" Inuyasha snarled as he unleashed a Kazi no Kizu at the ground in front of the gathering soldiers. They were blasted back, some into unconsciousness, some with injuries that took them out of the fight. Inuyasha's hackles rose as he felt malevolent eyes on him. He scanned the courtyard and found the source of his unease. "Naraku! Sesshoumaru, there's the bastard!"

"ONIGUMO!" Sesshoumaru bellowed, understood even in his dog form. "Give me back my mate and I will give you a quick death. Hold her from me and I will make you pay for my first mate before I kill you!"

If Naraku was startled by the use of his human name, he did not show it. Instead, he smiled. "Such choices." He shouted back. "As attractive as they sound, I believe I will go for a third choice." With that, he snapped his fingers. Kagura rose from behind one of the remaining walls on her feather. Kanna stepped out of the doorway behind Naraku and focused her mirror on the remaining humans who could fight and took control of them. And, lastly, the gates to the castle opened and in ran a large pack of ookami, the remainder of Kouga's tribe. Naraku's smile grew wider at the looks of anger and grim determination that passed over the brothers faces. "I believe you recognize my associates. They will exercise my third option for me." He turned his attention to his gathered forces. "Kill the hanyou; I have no use for him. But bring me the demon lord alive. His strength will add to my own. Besides," he paused, "he wants to see his mate, so I will show her to him … from inside me!"

**A/N: Next chapter, the brothers do what they were always meant to do. They kick ass! With a little help from their friends, of course. One other thing, I may be a couple of weeks getting this next chapter out. I am collaborating on a story with SimplyALady and I will be writing a chapter for it. It's called 'Cat-alyst' and is my attempt at a more humorous story. Lady asked if she could help with it and, liking her work, I agreed. Hopefully it will turn out as good as it is going in my head. Until next time, Fyrloche. **


	43. Chapter 43

-1Chapter 43

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry for the long delay but life has been happening in a big way. Tons of work, a daughter starting college, a car wreck: life has been hectic. And it doesn't help that this new computer I have has decided to be glitchy (or bitchy, you chose the adjective). Plus, I've been having writer's block._ sigh_ I know where I want to go but I am having trouble getting there. I love writing but sometimes it can be such a royal pain in the butt. I'll admit it; there are times that I almost wish that I had never started. Keyword - almost! Fortunately, you guys make it worth the time and effort. Now, on to my version of the Inuyasha universe. (Rumiko Takahashi has knocked everything out of whack since I started this story, so now it is almost AU. But it's MY AU! HAHAHAHAHA!) And, as usual, she still owns it and isn't returning the phone calls on offers to buy.**

_Interlude_

Inutaro's frustration mounted as he ran. He desperately wished to follow his father and uncle to help save his sister. But, he had been given a direct order by his father who he had promised to obey.

"I don't know why my lord didn't take me with him instead of that hanyou."

Inutaro winced at the sound of THAT voice. IT didn't help his frustration in the least. 'Gods, father! I can understand getting the girl to safety.' He glanced down at the girl in his arms. 'But, why did you and Uncle saddle me with…'

"Can't you go any faster?"

'…this whining toad!' He growled at the annoyance on his back. "If you think you can go any faster, feel free to get off!" Inutaro looked down at the road and doubled his effort at more speed. 'The sooner I get there, the sooner I can get rid of him and go after Takara!'

Suddenly, he heard a noise that brought him up short in the road. 'Horses galloping this direction.' He knelt and put Rin on the ground and let Jaken clamber off his back. "Stay behind me!"

Jaken opened his mouth to protest, but the words died in his throat as a dozen horsemen came around a curve in the road. He quickly grounded his staff and prepared to defend Rin if the horsemen got past Inutaro.

Inutaro stepped out in front of the girl and the toad, giving himself distance to move when the wind hit him in the face. His face lit up in a wide grin as he lifted his hand in greeting. "Daremo!" he bellowed, just before Kirara nearly landed in his lap.

"Damn!" he swore, as he leapt backwards. He had his sword half drawn in surprise before he realized whom it was who startled him. Breathing hard, he glared at the firecat who seemed to be grinning at him. "You did that on purpose." he accused.

"Inutaro!" Kagome called his name as she leapt from Kirara's back. "You've got Rin. But, where's Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Takara?"

"Indeed," stated Miroku, as he and Sango dismounted Kirara. "Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are not fighting, are they?"

Inutaro only shook his head no as he waited until everyone had gathered around so that he would only have to tell his story once. "Takara was taken from Lord Sesshoumaru by some woman named Kagura. " He noted the quick intake of breath from Kagome, Sango, and Miroku. "Inuyasha and Lord Sesshoumaru have gone after her to get her back. They sent me back to Lord Tanaka's with Rin and Jaken to keep Rin safe. I am then to guide you to where Kagura has gone so that you can face Naraku."

"They know where he is!?" The group said in startled unison.

"How did they get that information?" Sango questioned.

Inutaro smirked. "Lord Sesshoumaru was most persuasive towards one of the bodyguards that the demoness Kagura left behind."

Miroku rubbed the back of his neck as he smiled grimly. "Yes," he said, "I can believe that."

"Now that I've found you, I can send Rin and Jaken on with two of Daremo's men and then we can go to meet Lord Sesshoumaru and father."

Jaken began sputtering. "B, b,b,but I wish to return to my Lord's side. He will want his most trusted vassal with him."

Inutaro took a certain amount of pleasure in his next words. "Your Lord ordered you to stay with the girl, Rin. Do you really want to disobey him?"

Jaken paled. "N,n,n,no! Of course not!" Jaken turned back to walk over to Rin's side. "Why do I always get baby sitting duty?" he whined, in self pity as everyone else sighed in relief that they were not going to have to put up with the little toad demon.

Daremo motioned for two of his men to join the diminutive demon and the girl. "Keep them safe. Escort them back to Lord Tanaka." The two men nodded and rode over to their charges, each leaning over and giving them a hand up to be seated behind them.

As they set out, Rin squealed happily. Jaken was not so enthusiastic. "I still hate horses," he groaned as they passed over the hill and out of sight.

Inutaro paused just long enough to make sure that his duty had been fulfilled. Quickly, he turned and set off in that leaping run that characterized his father's way of travel. "Hurry!" he called over his shoulder. "Follow me!"

The others quickly remounted. "After him, Kirara!" Sango shouted as they leapt into the air.

Daremo motioned for his remaining men to follow the quickly moving hanyou and firecat.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Sesshoumaru scanned the courtyard, watching all of Naraku's forces as they gathered for their attack. Quickly, he made a decision. Before Inuyasha knew what was happening, Sesshoumaru reached over his shoulder with his muzzle and grabbed Inuyasha's firerat hakama, then snapped his head around and flung Inuyasha at the roof of the building that Naraku had just come out of! 'Find Takara!' was all he growled before launching himself at his enemies.

Inuyasha flipped himself in mid-air to land feet first on the roof of the building. "Damn you, Sesshoumaru!" he shouted, as he prepared himself to leap into battle at his brothers side.

Sesshoumaru looked up from where he had bitten one of the ookami in half. 'No, brother!' he growled as he spun in place, dislodging some of the wolf demons that had leapt onto his back. 'Find my mate!'

Inuyasha gave a fierce growl of his own and then swung Tessaiga at the roof beneath his feet to make a hole. With one last look at his brother, he dropped down into the darkness below.

Sesshoumaru grinned a savage dog's grin as he gave his full attention to the annoyances that were attacking him. Spinning with surprising agility for a three legged dog, he threw more of the wolves from his back and sides. Since Inuyasha was safe in the building, Sesshoumaru let his poison saliva build and started drooling it over his enemies. Several barely had time to scream before it dissolved them. 'This will soon be over.' he thought with satisfaction as the drool started to become a cloud of poison fog.

The fog barely had time to begin its work before a sudden gust of wind dissipated it.

"Now, now, my lord!" came a mocking voice from overhead. Kagura floated into view. "You didn't think that we would make it that easy for you, now did you?" She brought her fan up and snapped it downward. "Dance of the dragons!"

Sesshoumaru moved to dodge the multiple whirlwinds coming at him. This was one of the disadvantages to this form. While it had great power and offensive capability, it was handicapped by its size. As with anything, the larger the size, the better the target. And, unfortunately, he was just too big a target. The whirlwinds blasted him into the air to land on his side, skidding for many yards, destroying some of the remaining buildings.

The ookami quickly took advantage of this and swarmed over him, biting and clawing. Kana wasted no time in sending her controlled soldiers into the fray as well, hacking and slashing at the downed inuyoukai.

Naraku smiled as he watched his minions flow over the demon lord. Soon the great Sesshoumaru would be a part of him and nothing would stand in his way.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Inuyasha made his way down into the darkness. Naraku's stench filled his nose as he tracked Takara's scent making him want to gag. "Can't smell anything!" he complained aloud. "Gods, Naraku stinks!" Still, he could barely make out Takara's scent and was slowly following it. Suddenly her scent became very strong just outside a heavy door. "Takara?" he called questioningly as he paused outside the door.

From inside he heard a muffled "Inuyasha?" and then a stronger scream of "Inuyasha! Help me!"

That was all he needed to hear. He flexed his claws. "Sankontessou!" The door shattered under his attack. He rushed into the room to be greeted with the sight of Takara shackled to the far wall. "Takara!" he shouted, and then noticed the state of undress that she was in. He reddened and quickly averted his gaze. "Let's get you out of here. Sesshoumaru might need my help." He slashed the bonds holding her arms and then shrugged out of his firerat top. "Here."

Takara took the top gratefully. "Thank you, Inuyasha. Let's get out of here. I want to see Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha nodded and started to turn when he heard a whisper of sound behind him, just before he felt a sharp pain in his back and saw the point of Kohaku's chain sickle come out of his upper chest below his left shoulder. As he fell to his knees, he felt Kohaku yank on the chain and retrieve his weapon. Driven by instinct, he dived to one side just in time to avoid most of the downward slash by Kohaku. Most, but not all. The blade cut down between Inuyasha and Tessaiga, removing the sword from its master. Inuyasha landed heavily on his back, griping his shoulder. Kohaku appeared from out of nowhere to stand over him with that dead look on his face. He lifted his chain sickle with no emotion.

"Inuyasha!" was all Takara had time to scream before the blade descended.

**A/N: Aahhh! The sweet sound of people screaming in frustration, music to my ears. _laughs maniacally_ Let loose the hounds of war! Just wait, the next chapter is going to be even better. Sorry that this one took so long. I developed severe writers block over the first part of this chapter. I considered leaving it out, but felt that it was needed to explain the quick appearance of the rest of the gang. The next chapter will be done sometime in the next 3 weeks since I have been planning this battle for over a year now. I'm going to do a chapter of 'Catalyst' before I write out the battle. Just remember, good things come to those who wait. Later, Fyrloche.**


	44. Chapter 44

-1Chapter 44

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, my friends, but I have to admit that I have been fighting an addiction of sorts. I have become addicted to Never Winter Nights. I know, I know; very sad that a 41 year old man has become a video game addict. _sigh_ I've always enjoyed gaming and I've just let this one take over. I have also been under pressure from my mate to do some 'real' writing. So, I have been working on my novel as well as my fanfics. That means that I will be trying to wrap up all my loose ends so that I can concentrate on that. Don't worry! I'll finish all the stories that I have started. I don't own Inuyasha and I haven't had any luck in trying to buy him, but I wonder if Rumiko Takahashi would be willing to lease him out for a while?**

Naraku smiled in triumph as he looked over the growing pile of youkai and warriors that swarmed over Sesshoumaru. "Very soon," he gloated, "you will be absorbed into me, adding to my power." While he watched, the pile suddenly collapsed in on itself. "Good! He has transformed back into his smaller form." Naraku started to move forward when a sudden burst of light and energy blew the ookami away from the center of the pile.

Sesshoumaru leapt from the mass of men and youkai. His face was impassive as he drew Toukijin at the top of his arc. The blade crackled with energy as he landed and thrust it into the ground with a calmly stated "Dragon Strike." The ookami that had begun massing for a charge laughed at him, thinking that the 'Mighty Lord Sesshoumaru' had missed his strike in his weakened and confused state. The laughter ceased when the ground erupted as the energy of the strike rose from beneath them in the form of an energy dragon, obliterating a full dozen of their number. With cold contempt, Sesshoumaru sheathed Toukijin and advanced on the remaining youkai, humans, and wolves. One of the braver ookami ran screaming at the impassive inu-youkai, brandishing his naginata. Moving swifter than the eye could follow, Sesshoumaru side stepped the attack and caught up the impulsive wolf youkai by the throat. He never looked at the youkai struggling in his grasp as he slowly closed his fist and crushed the offending youkai's neck. He opened his fist and let the new corpse drop at his feet. He regarded the remaining ookami and humans with contempt.

"Who is next to die?" he asked, in a flat, emotionless voice.

The infuriated ookami howled answer to his challenge and charged en-masse, with the controlled humans at their heels.

Sesshoumaru charged his enemies, drawing Toukijin as he closed with them. The great youkai sword swept in wide arcs, cutting down men and youkai like a scythe cutting wheat with the impassive inu-youkai lord acting as a grim reaper.

'He is magnificent!' Kagura exulted. Her anger and disappointment with Sesshoumaru could not overcome her admiration of the powerful youkai. Still, she knew that she had to oppose him. He would give her no mercy for the part she played in the kidnapping of his declared mate. With a regretful sigh, she opened her fan and began summoning her youki to use the 'Dance of the Dead' attack against Sesshoumaru. As she began her attack, a cry of "Hiraikotsu!" suddenly sounded from behind her. She barely had time to register this when her feather was cut from under her. With a startled shriek, Kagura fell to ground below, creating a small crater with her impact. As the dust settled, she tried to lever herself from off the ground, but collapsed with a groan.

After Sango had caught Hiraikotsu on its return arc, she guided Kirara down to the ground where Kagome leapt off as soon as the firecat touched down. Kirara was immediately off again, returning to the air to give her mistress a better position to use her great boomerang efficiently.

Kagome had already picked out her target. Pulling two arrows from her quiver, she nocked and fired them in rapid succession, her target: Kanna.

Kanna observed the arrows coming at her and impassively turned her mirror to catch them so that she could return them to their point of origin. She noticed the high amount of purification energy that was contained in the first arrow but thought nothing of it since her mirror would reflect all attacks. Indeed, the first arrow had no sooner entered the mirror than it began to emerge, just in time for the second highly charged arrow to arrive and strike the first, point to point. The resulting explosion blew Kanna through the wall that she was standing in front of. Her blackened and cracked body landed with her eyes open and lifeless like a broken doll. Her blackened and cracked mirror landed beside her, silently mirroring its mistress's fate.

Kagome had little time to feel any satisfaction with the success of her plan as ookami began closing around her.

"Bitch!" one snarled. "You caused the death of Kouga! Now, we kill you!" The others howled their agreement and began to advance on Kagome when two familiar ookami suddenly appeared at her side.

"She is our sister!" growled Ginta. "You will not touch her!"

Hakkaku nodded agreement. "To get to her, you must go through us!" he added.

The first ookami looked at the two of them in disbelief. "You would side with this human bitch over your own kind? Have you no honor? Doesn't your blood boil for revenge for your pack leader?"

Ginta nodded. "Yes, at first, we wanted blood for blood. But then we thought about it. Inuyasha was defending his mate and cub. Any of us would have done the same."

"Besides," added Hakkaku, "if we followed the rule of the pack, Inuyasha is supposed to be our pack leader now."

"You two are weak, pathetic fools!" the ookami growled when he overcame his shock. "Your deaths will not hurt the pack. Kill them all!"

That was his last order before his head separated from his shoulders. Daremo had entered the compound at a full gallop and had seen the Lady Kagome's plight. He drew his sword and loped off the head of the lead wolf youkai as he passed. Quickly, he sheathed his sword and dismounted, knowing his style of fighting was better suited on the ground. He charged at the remaining ookami, waiting until the last moment to draw his sword. That was part of the secret to his style. The speed of the draw was inhumanly fast, the blade flashing like lightning. Four wolf youkai fell with his draw as he flashed through the pack. Once through, he skidded to a stop and sheathed his sword again, turning to face his foes. He saw that the two ookami that had been defending the Lady Kagome when he arrived had engaged two of the remaining wolves. The last of the youkai who had been threatening the young miko snarled a challenge at him in his own language and drew his sword as he charged. Daremo could not understand the words, but he definitely understood the action. He began his own run towards the charging youkai. Suddenly, he leapt into the air. "Dragon Slash!" he shouted, as he drew his sword and slashed downwards, using his weight to add to the force of his swing. The wolf youkai barely had time to raise his sword in defense. It did him no good. Daremo's sword shattered the ookami's sword and cut him down.

Inutaro had been caught in an ambush outside the compound walls. He and the remainder of Daremo's warriors were attacked by wolves. They lost a horse and the men had various wounds, but the wolves were unable to do more than slow Inutaro down. As he finally entered the compound, he stopped to take in the battle to see where he was most needed and to see if he could find his sister. His allies seemed to be handling themselves. Then he noticed a dark haired individual observing the battle. Even at a distance, he could feel the hatred radiating off this man. Inutaro smiled grimly. 'You're mine!' he thought, as he charged the man.

Naraku sensed Inutaro's charge. He pretended ignorance, waiting for the baka to come within striking distance. Naraku smiled. He needed an outlet for the irritation he was feeling concerning the battle.

Inutaro, who had been schooled in the Mitsurugi style of fighting with Daremo, leapt into the air and drew Jajjimentotsume with the intention of performing the 'Dragon Slash' technique. His intention was short lived as Naraku suddenly spun and shot out a tentacle spike, running Inutaro through the shoulder and suspending him in mid-air. He dropped his sword with a cry of pain and grabbed onto the spike with both hands, trying to pull himself off of it.

Naraku chuckled, without humor. "Baka! You should have known that you could not destroy me that easily." He cocked his head and examined his struggling prize. "You remind me of that damned idiot Inuyasha."

Inutaro's temper flared. "My father is no idiot!"

Naraku's eye's widened at that proclamation. Then, he threw back his head and laughed. "This is wonderful! As many of my 'children' as he has slaughtered it is only fair that I should kill his. Besides, killing you will hurt him and bringing him pain pleases me." He drew back his other hand and transformed it into a spike. The purifying arrow that cut through the arm suspending Inutaro came as a surprise.

Before Naraku could react, Ginta and Hakkaku followed their sister's instructions and ran in, grabbing Inutaro by the shoulders to drag him to safety.

Naraku gripped what remained of his arm and looked at the miko responsible with hate filled eyes. While he had been occupied with the hanyou brat, he had failed to notice that the rest of the fighting had ended. The ookami were all but wiped out and the humans had fled when Kanna's control had ended. His enemies ranged around him with looks of grim determination. However, he noticed a face missing from his foes. "I see most of my unworthy opponents." he taunted. "But I don't see the pathetic hanyou." He smiled as he saw Kagome and her friends bristle at his words. "I know that he wouldn't be here to miss this unless he fell during the battle."

Kagome's breath caught at his words. In truth, she had not really been paying close attention to where Inuyasha was because of her intent to stop Kanna. Whatever fears that were forming, died quickly with Sesshoumaru's words.

"Do not concern yourself with my brother's fate," declared the impassive taiyoukai. "He was entrusted to find my mate and free her from where ever you have her held captive."

Naraku laughed. "Then he is dead." He laughed even harder at the looks of shock that passed between the assembled. "What?" he questioned. "Did you think that I would leave such a precious treasure unguarded?" He glared at his enemies. "Now that you are all here, I shall dispose of you." He turned his attention to the inuyoukai lord. "And you shall die knowing that I will leave your corpse to go sample the pleasures of your mate." His smile widened as he saw the great Lord Sesshoumaru begin to lose his temper. "I wonder if her body is as sweet and tender as it was the first time I possessed it." he mused, goading the taiyoukai.

With a howl of outrage, Sesshoumaru lost control and began to transform. Naraku had anticipated this and began his own transformation into a hideous giant spider. The others fell back and prepared to do battle, willing to support Sesshoumaru in any way necessary.

Suddenly, the ground began to quake beneath their feet. They looked around for the source, until the building behind Naraku suddenly exploded outwards as a giant white akida leapt through the roof. He landed and turned to regard the other, larger dog and the giant spider before him, his blood red eyes wild and a limp form of a dark haired woman in his jaws.

**A/N: This looks like a good place to stop. _laughs evilly_ I do so love a good cliff hanger, at least when I am writing it, that is. We get to finish the battle in the next chapter. By the way, yes, I borrowed the 'Dragon Strike' scene from the fourth movie. It was too awesome not to use. I did not intentionally borrow from 'Star Wars'. It wasn't until after I had written the scene and was proofreading that I realized how similar it was to the Darth Vader scene at the first of the movie. Just goes to show how we are influenced by what we watch and read. Later guys. Just remember, if you shoot me for this cliffhanger, you'll never see how it's resolved!**


	45. Chapter 45

-1Chapter 45

**A/N: Hi. Sorry to be gone so long, but I have had a LOT of emotional struggles going on in my life and I have not been able to concentrate on this, or any other, story. Long story short: my wife went through a breast cancer scare. Multiple mammograms, sonograms, and a biopsy later resulted in a benign fibrous tumor. Very nerve wrecking. But, she is fine and I'm back. Now, to end this battle. **

Sesshoumaru's eyes were fixated on the woman in the inuyoukai's jaws. He watched, not breathing as the large akita lowered its head, dropped the woman on the ground, and then butted her with its muzzle. The growl of rage that had begun to build up suddenly stilled as the woman stood and gently patted the inu on the side of its muzzle before turning and running towards Sesshoumaru. The taiyoukai leapt forward to put himself between Takara and both Naraku and the inu youkai. He sniffed to identify this newcomer, unwilling to believe the obvious.

Kagome had no such problems. "Inuyasha!" she screamed as she ran towards the giant akita, fearing that he has been lost to his youkai while marveling at this transformation. She never imagined that he could become a full inuyoukai like Sesshoumaru. She skidded to a stop when he turned to look at her and growled softly.

"Stay back!" came the guttural command from the inu youkai, shocking her with the realization that his mind was still in control. He turned his attention back to the motionless spider. "Time to die, Naraku!"

Naraku was in a state of shock. He had held back when the new inuyoukai had arrived with Takara in its jaws, thinking that Sesshoumaru would turn his attention to this new youkai that had apparently slain his mate. Like the spider he was, he was going to wait until the right moment to attack and subdue the taiyoukai so that he could absorb him at his leisure. The development that Takara was still alive was bad enough, but to discover that this new youkai was Inuyasha was unbelievable --- and unsettling. Naraku watched as the younger inuyoukai laid back his ears and went into a stalking crouch with his tail sticking out straight behind him and his fangs bared in a snarl. He realized that a larger and more experienced inuyoukai was beginning the same kind of dance on the opposite side of him. His wide set, multiple eyes gave him excellent peripheral vision. This allowed him to maneuver so that he was always exactly between his opponents and could watch them both, but that was about all the advantage that he had. He skittered back and forth, turning slightly more towards one and then the other. His enemies were beginning to harass him from one side, then the other, darting in and snapping at his legs.

The first arrow decided him. Kagome shot at him and scored a hit on his body, blowing out a large chunk. It missed his head only because he had turned to snap at Sesshoumaru who had bitten at one of his legs. He knew that he would not be so lucky again. 'That damned miko is too good a shot now!' he thought. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Quickly, he drew a deep breath and expelled a large cloud of miasma. Using the cloud as cover, he dove at the more inexperienced fighter, attempting to sink his fangs into Inuyasha. He didn't get in the bite but he did mange to bowl Inuyasha off his feet.

With a yelp, Inuyasha turned the fall into a roll, coming to his feet with a snarl. He leapt at his hated enemy, landing on Naraku's back and sinking his fangs to the root where the head joined the body. With his jaws locked in a firm bite, Inuyasha began to shake his head back and forth violently, trying to rip the head off.

Sesshoumaru used the distraction to attack the spider relatively unopposed. Caught up in his rage, he would crush a leg in his powerful jaws and then give a hard jerk to rip it loose from the body.

Sango would not be denied. She swept in on the right side, urging Kirara in closer as she swept off the legs from that side with Hiraikotsu.

Miroku, who was riding behind Sango to help provide cover, peppered Naraku's body with sutras as they passed.

Daremo and his men decided that it would be wiser to stay back and let those who were best qualified to fight demons do their job. They did decide to remain close to the Lady Kagome to provide her with cover in case any of Naraku's minions decided to go after her.

Ginta and Hakkaku were standing guard over Takara who was trying to treat a struggling Inutaro. He was ignoring his wound and trying to get back into the battle. She was having none of it. "Quit that! I'm not going to let you up!"

"I've got to help them!" protested Inutaro.

"You've got to lie still!" Takara ordered. "Taro, you're wounded and I'm not letting you fight unless there is no other choice." She looked over at the combatants, watching her lord with pride. "Besides, they look like they're handling things."

The object of her pride was preparing to join his brother on the back of the giant spider so that they could rend it apart. Naraku had other ideas. Before Sesshoumaru could move, tentacles shot out of the stubs of Naraku's legs to wrap around the taiyoukai. At the same time, the spiders back suddenly softened and gave way to the mass of the younger inuyoukai that was on it. Tendrils of flesh leapt up to ensnare Inuyasha as the spider's form dissolved into a cancerous looking blob. A large projection appeared between the brothers, taking on the form of Naraku's head and upper torso.

Naraku laughed and began to gloat. "The two of you should have known better than to match wits with me! Now both of you shall become a part of me, making me unstoppable!"

Sesshoumaru quickly growled at Inuyasha in inuyoukai so that Naraku wouldn't understand him. _"Transform and slip out of his tentacles!"_

Inuyasha nodded his understanding and began to shrink rapidly, trying to loosen the grip that Naraku had on him. Sesshoumaru was doing the same. Both growled in frustration as the fleshy bonds tightened with them as they shrank. They lashed out with their claws, but the flesh kept regenerating itself as fast as they damaged it.

Naraku laughed at their efforts and began to pull against them to absorb them when a puzzled look came over his face just before his body exploded.

Kagome had poured her miko energy into that arrow, desperate to save Inuyasha. She fell to her knees, gasping with the effort that it had taken. Her spirits lifted to see her hanyou break free of Naraku, and then plummeted to see that she had not killed him.

Naraku's head and upper chest were still intact and hovering above the shattered mess of his body. Kirara swept in with Sango and Miroku. Miroku threw sutras at the disembodied head that stopped short of their goal, hitting a barrier. "It's no good!" he shouted. "He's drawing on the Shikon to power his shield. I can't get through!"

Unnoticed, a figure rose from the ground behind them.

Inuyasha reached for his Tessaiga, only to remember that he didn't have it with him. It was still in the ruins of the dungeon that he had found Takara in. "Damn!" he roared. "We need the red Tessaiga!" He turned towards the ruin of the building to see a figure standing at the top of the rubble.

"Inuyasha!" the figure shouted. It lifted a sword above its head. "Take your Tessaiga and kill that bastard!" With that last word, Kohaku threw the sword with the last of his strength, collapsing as the Tessaiga spun through the air to be caught by the hilt by its master.

"Kohaku!" Sango screamed.

"Go on!" Miroku told Sango. "See to your brother. We'll take care of Naraku!"

Sango nodded and guided Kirara down lower to the ground before swinging her leg over and dropping off to run to her brother's side. Miroku quickly guided Kirara back up to get near Naraku.

Inuyasha twirled Tessaiga over his head, slinging off the scabbard and transforming the mighty fang. With a running leap, he launched himself at Naraku. "Red Tessaiga!" he screamed as he channeled all of his hatred and rage into the strike, shattering the barrier.

"Sesshoumaru! He's yours!" With that shout, Inuyasha left the dark hanyou to his brother so that Sesshoumaru could claim his vengeance. He landed next to Kagome and scooped her up, holding her close as he turned to watch his brother.

The taiyoukai needed no urging. His eyes narrowed as he leapt at the creature that had caused him so much pain. Drawing back his hand, he summoned up his poison at the strongest that he could and thrust his claws through the face that he hated so much. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as Sesshoumaru's poison began to dissolve the face of Naraku. Sesshoumaru almost smiled to see the look of agony that contorted what was left of that face. Inside the skull, something hard and mostly round brushed his hand. He quickly grasped the Shikon no Tama and tore it from Naraku. He turned his impassive gaze to Kirara and her passenger. "Finish it, monk." he ordered flatly as he dropped to earth.

Miroku grimly unwrapped his hand. "Kazana!" he said softly, knowing that this would be the last time that he would ever use it. He pulled in the remains of Naraku before they had a chance to more than begin reforming. As the head entered the kazana, Miroku got a brief glimpse at the remaining eye of his hated enemy. The satisfaction of seeing the horror in that eye as it was swept to its fate helped him when the pain hit as the kazana closed.

Kirara heard his gasp as the pain began and decided that she needed to take him to her mistress. Quickly, she landed beside Sango, who was holding Kohaku's head in her lap. Sango's head spun to look at Miroku as he groaned in pain while holding his arm. "Miroku!" she called, her voice and visage anguished as she was torn between her brother and the monk.

Miroku all but fell off Kirara, sweating and holding his arm. "It's alright, Sango." he reassured her, through clenched teeth. "I will be alright. Stay with your brother."

"But…" she started to protest.

"No buts, I'm fine." He groaned as he leaned back against Kirara. He began to flex his hand. "See, the pain is subsiding." Slowly, he unwrapped the sealing rosary from his hand and removed his glove, turning his palm towards his face. Slowly, he closed his hand into a fist, bowed his head, and said a prayer of thanksgiving. Then he raised his head, smiled, opened his hand, and turned his palm towards Sango. "I'm finally free." he said softly.

Sango smiled through her tears and nodded before turning her attention back to her brother. Gently, she brushed a stray loche of hair from his forehead. "You're finally free, too." she whispered as she held him.

Sesshoumaru had long since landed and had watched the end of the murderer of his mate and pup. The two sides of his personality watched in silence until the last of Naraku had been devoured by the monk's kazana. 'You are avenged, my family.' Emotion and Ration said together before fading out. Her scent came to him before her presence and then she was there, standing next to him. In silence, he put his arm around her and pulled her to him.

Takara looked up into his face and smiled. "My Lord," she murmured.

Sesshoumaru looked into her eyes and, with a slight upturn of his lips, replied "My Lady" before bending his head to kiss her deeply. As the kiss broke, he softly growled. "Mate."

Takara's eyes were bright when she returned the growl, "Mate."

"Aaahheemm!" came a voice from behind them that caused them both to turn. There was Inuyasha, grinning like an idiot, and Kagome, who had the decency to blush.

Sesshoumaru cocked his eyebrow at his brother. "You have something to say, little brother?"

If anything, Inuyasha's grin got bigger. "Nope. Not a thing." He cocked his head to the side. "As a matter of fact, I was thinking that you had a pretty good idea there." And before Kagome could react, Inuyasha spun on her and brought her in for a kiss of their own.

Sesshoumaru smirked and actually chuckled a little. "Why, Inuyasha? I never thought that you would follow my example in anything."

Inuyasha broke the kiss and scowled at his brother. "Don't get used to it. We still have some issues between us."

Kagome shook her head slightly to clear it from the affects of the kiss. "Please don't start anything now. Naraku is gone and we have our lives back. Let's not get into another war."

"Inuyasha is correct," Sesshoumaru said. "We do have issues between us that need to be resolved." He looked at his brother. "But I believe that we can resolve them. We have not been a family for too long." Sesshoumaru enjoyed the look of surprise on Inuyasha's face and decided to add to it. "I believe," he said, holding out his hand towards Kagome, "that this belongs to you." He dropped the Shikon no Tama into her hands.

Kagome held the jewel and stared at its blackness. Her brow furrowed in concentration and the jewel's color shifted, becoming a lustrous pink. She blinked as she relaxed and then turned to Sesshoumaru. "Thank you, Lord Sesshoumaru." She bowed.

"You are welcome….. Little sister."

**A/N: Finally done. I know that some of you are very irate with me. I understand completely and apologize for the long delay but Murphy has moved into my life and things have been very hectic. _sigh_ That's life for you. I tell you, it feels like I'm living in a soap opera or something. And it just goes to prove the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction. Later, Fyrloche.**


	46. Chapter 46

-1Chapter Forty-six

**A/N: God, I am sooo lazy! I know I need to write this but I just keep getting distracted. I have been doing a LOT of reading. I found the Buffy fanfic site called 'Twisting the Hellmouth'. It has got a couple of very good Inuyasha/Buffy crossovers plus a ton of other Buffy crossovers. If you go to that site, I highly recommend the authors 'Seige', 'GreyWizard', 'AnimeRonin', and 'Litmouse'. Now, to clarify, this story is not done yet. I do have a couple of things to clear up, not the least of which is the Yukiho situation. I don't own Inuyasha but I do own the 'Inuyasha Profiles' book. It has a lot of great stuff in it.**

Kagome stared at the softly glowing orb in her hands. Her finger sought out the imperfection that marred it's otherwise perfectly smooth surface. 'The shards I have should almost finish it.' Unconsciously, she looked over at Sango, Miroku, and, most importantly, Kohaku. 'Oh, Kami! What are we going to do?' she thought in anguish.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two arms reaching around her and pulling her in for a comforting hug. "We'll figure something out." Inuyasha said softly in her ear.

She turned her face to him with a look of shock. "How…?"

Inuyasha chuckled lightly. "Your face ain't hard to read." He unwrapped his arms from her and stepped up to her side. "Let's go see how they're doing."

Together, they walked over to their friends. Sango heard them approach and looked up with a smile on her face. The smile faded when she saw the sadness in Kagome's eyes and the pink glow of the Shikon no Tama in her hands. Her eyes started to tear. "Kagome?" she said in an almost pleading tone.

Inuyasha held up his hand in a placating gesture. "Don't worry, Sango. We haven't come for your brother's shard."

Sango's tears broke free from her eyes. "Thank you," was all she could say before turning to look at her brother again.

Miroku stood with a slight groan and then regarded the half demon who was his closest friend. "Don't you want the jewel, Inuyasha?"

His friend snorted. "Hell, no!" He cast a quick look at his brother who had walked up with Takara. "I'm stronger than any other youkai around so I don't need to be a full youkai." He put his arm around Kagome's waist and pulled her into his side. He smirked. "Besides, if I lose the ears, she might decide she doesn't love me anymore!"

Kagome swatted him.

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow at his brother. "Strongest youkai around?" he said in mock challenge.

Inuyasha grinned at his brother. Then he sobered and looked at his friends. "Sango." he called softly, to get her attention. When she looked at him, he continued. "We haven't come for your brother's shard, but we need to figure out what we are going to do about it. Eventually, we will need it so that we can complete this damned jewel and get rid of it before anything else goes wrong."

Sango closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded slightly. "I know Inuyasha, but, please," she opened her eyes and turned to look at him, "let's not talk about it right now." She turned her face back to her brother and tightened her hug on him.

Inuyasha nodded in agreement and then turned his attention to Kohaku. Kohaku returned his stare. Inuyasha squatted and grinned at the young youkai slayer. "Thanks for the assist with Tessaiga back there."

Kohaku looked at him impassively for a second before giving a slow, soft smile in answer. "I was just returning what belonged to you."

"Uh-huh." Inuyasha straightened back up with a smirk. "Maybe so, but you sure did it when I needed it."

"How did Kohaku get Tessaiga anyway?" asked Miroku.

"The slayer cut it away from Inuyasha's body when he ambushed him."

Everyone looked at Takara in shock at this announcement, then to Kohaku, who looked at the ground in a mix of embarrassment and shame, and finally to Inuyasha. Inuyasha scratched the back of his head and grimaced.

Kagome strode up to Inuyasha and got right in his face. "What happened?"

Inuyasha scowled and folded his arms in front of him. "Nothin' that I couldn't handle."

Kagome's eyes narrowed. "Inuyasha." she said, in a dangerous tone.

Inuyasha's scowl deepened even more. He glared at Takara. "You just had to go and say something."

Sesshoumaru put his arm around his mate's shoulder in a protective gesture. "Do not blame her, little brother." he said softly. "Just answer my sister's question and be done with it."

Inuyasha huffed. "Fine! I'll tell you." He did a double take. "Sister?"

Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow at him. "She is your mate, is she not? Therefore, _brother, _she is my sister." He waved his hand in dismissal of the subject. "She is worthy of the title."

Inuyasha grunted in response, and then peered at Kagome for a second. "I don't suppose you'll take the short version, will ya'?"

Kagome cocked an eyebrow at him.

Inuyasha sighed. "I didn't think so."

_Flashback_

Inuyasha made his way down into the darkness. Naraku's stench filled his nose as he tracked Takara's scent making him want to gag. "Can't smell anything!" he complained aloud. "Gods, Naraku stinks!" Still, he could barely make out Takara's scent and was slowly following it. Suddenly her scent became very strong just outside a heavy door. "Takara?" he called questioningly as he paused outside the door.

From inside he heard a muffled "Inuyasha?" and then a stronger scream of "Inuyasha! Help me!"

That was all he needed to hear. He flexed his claws. "Sankontessou!" The door shattered under his attack. He rushed into the room to be greeted with the sight of Takara shackled to the far wall. "Takara!" he shouted, and then noticed the state of undress that she was in. He reddened and quickly averted his gaze. "Let's get you out of here. Sesshoumaru might need my help." He slashed the bonds holding her arms and then shrugged out of his firerat top. "Here."

Takara took the top gratefully. "Thank you, Inuyasha. Let's get out of here. I want to see Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha nodded and started to turn when he heard a whisper of sound behind him, just before he felt a sharp pain in his back and saw the point of Kohaku's chain sickle come out of his upper chest below his left shoulder. As he fell to his knees, he felt Kohaku yank on the chain and retrieve his weapon. Driven by instinct, he dived to one side just in time to avoid most of the downward slash by Kohaku. Most, but not all. The blade cut down between Inuyasha and Tessaiga, removing the sword from its master. Inuyasha landed heavily on his back, griping his shoulder. Kohaku appeared from out of nowhere to stand over him with that dead look on his face. He lifted his chain sickle with no emotion.

"Inuyasha!" was all Takara had time to scream before the blade descended.

"Shit!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he rolled hard to the side to avoid the cut. Coming up in a crouch, he glared at Sango's little brother. "Damn it, Kohaku! I don't want to hurt you!"

Kohaku's face was impassive as he began to twirl the weighted end of his chain.

Inuyasha growled in frustration as he watched Sango's little brother. 'I don't want to hurt him, for Sango's sake.' He feinted slightly to gauge his opponent's reaction. 'The only problem is that he is too damn good to fake out and take down easy.' He felt his pulse quicken involuntarily at the thought of battle. 'And, I've got to be careful not to lose control of my youkai.' He cast a quick glance at Tessaiga. As soon as he did it, he cursed himself for his mistake.

It was just the opening that Kohaku was waiting on. He cast the chain in a looping throw to wrap around Inuyasha's neck.

To Inuyasha's credit, he was able to partially block the weighted chain. He got his hand up in time for it to wrap around his arm instead of his neck. In reflex, he pulled sharply against the chain. This was another mistake.

Kohaku had been well trained in the art of youkai slaying. His father had drummed into him that no battle plan ever lasted past the first clash. This meant that while his attack had failed to do what he wanted it to do; he immediately planned another move that would take advantage of his opponent. When Inuyasha pulled against the chain, Kohaku went with it. He used the momentum of the pull to increase his own attack. Flipping in mid air, he landed a double kick to Inuyasha's chest, knocking him backwards. He spun, landing like a cat, and then launched a leg sweep attack while Inuyasha was off balance.

Inuyasha fell but managed a spin that allowed him to land with his hands against the floor. He spun to the side and got his feet under him so that he could come up in a defensive crouch. 'Damn, he's good!' Inuyasha thought. 'But,' he shook off the chain wrapped around his arm, 'I'm better.' He crossed his arms over his chest and dug his claws into his shoulders to coat them in his blood. He leapt backwards and swept his arms outward in opposing arcs snarling "Hijinkessou!" He deliberately aimed for the floor at Kohaku's feet, hoping that the force of the attack would knock him off balance or at least distract him from Inuyasha's next attack. The force of the attack blasted the young youkai slayer off his feet and flung him into the far wall. His body slid the floor to fall in a motionless heap.

"Damn!" Inuyasha exclaimed, rushing over to check the boy out. "Gods, Sango will never forgive me if I've killed him." His concern led him right into the trap. As he leaned over to check Kohaku, the still body suddenly spun and slashed the concerned hanyou across the chest, scoring him deeply.

"Inuyasha!" Takara screamed.

It was all too much for the hanyou. The stress of thinking that he had killed the boy; the pain of his wound; the smell of his blood - all these things coupled with the fact that the Tessaiga was not on his hip led to the pulse in his youkai. He tried to fight it, but the blood had been held in check for so long that it was determined to get out.

"Takara!" he grated out. "Get away! I can't control this!"

Kohaku gathered himself and prepared to attack the distracted hanyou. He had raised his weapon, preparing to strike, when Inuyasha's head snapped around to look at him with blood red eyes. Kohaku stopped at this new development and wondered briefly if he should rethink his attack strategy when Inuyasha darted in and backhanded him into the wall. This time, he didn't have to feign unconsciousness.

Inside Inuyasha, his youkai blood raged for release. Inuyasha felt the transformations begin. He fought for control and then felt something snap inside of him. The transformation continued, but he had control! His mind, while feeling rage, was not an unthinking killing machine. He barely had time to register this in his mind when he realized something even more astounding. His transformation wasn't stopping! He could feel his face elongating and his body growing. Realizing what was happening; he dropped to all fours as he was already almost as big as Jeninji. Looking over at Takara, he knew that he was going to have to protect her when his body reached its full size. He padded over to her and knocked her down with his muzzle, bracing himself over her. When she started to move away he gave her a whining growl and forced out a raspy "Stay!"

Takara looked up at the rapidly growing hanyou, watching as his back cracked the floor above them. She could see his eyes and read the anger there, but that he had it under control. He shook his head as if to clear it and then looked at her with a kind of lolling grin. Before she could react, he bent his head down and caught her up in his jaws, then flexed his muscles and leapt straight up out of the building, causing it to explode outward.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"And that's pretty much all I remember." Inuyasha finished telling what happened in the basement.

Kagome stared at him in shock. "But, how…?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Don't know. Don't really care. It's just something else I can do now."

"But, it might be a strengthening of your youkai blood, Inuyasha." Miroku protested. "It would behoove us to know how this occurred so that we can be assured that you never loose control of it."

"Indeed." came a cold voice from the side. "The blood of a great inuyoukai runs through the veins of my brother. If he is able to further suppress the weak human blood that is within him to become more like his noble bloodline, then I say 'Let him.'."

Miroku blanched slightly, but answered the taiyoukai. "But what if he looses control?"

"What of it?"

Miroku gaped at him. "He could kill humans!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at him. "Has he yet?"

"Yes, I have." Inuyasha spoke softly.

Sesshoumaru turned to look at his brother. "Were they helpless? Innocent?"

"They were bandits led by a youkai that was draining young women of their life." answered Kagome.

"And you feel guilty for killing them?" Sesshoumaru was almost incredulous. "Inuyasha." he intoned, solemnly. "To kill such as those does not stain your honor."

"But they were human!" Inuyasha protested. "And, I," he paused in shame, "I enjoyed killing them."

"You killed filth. Even the humans would have called them filth and would have executed them." Sesshoumaru looked Inuyasha in the eye. "I am a Lord. I judge the citizens of my demesnes when they have committed infractions to my law. This duty came to me from our father. Even though you are the second son, you have a responsibility to do the same." Sesshoumaru smiled, grimly. "As for enjoying killing humans, who hasn't?"

Inuyasha growled as Kagome and the others gasped at the proclamation from the demon lord.

"You," Sesshoumaru pointed at Inuyasha, "are what you are, a youkai with a noble lineage. You have not killed the weak or the innocent. That you enjoyed killing that which deserved to be killed is of no consequence." Sesshoumaru looked at his brother shrewdly. "Answer me this. Have you ever enjoyed killing youkai?"

"If they deserved it." answered Inuyasha curtly.

"Then what is the difference? Being human does not make them any less deserving of death for their actions."

"But, they were helpless."

"I doubt that they were helpless. Perhaps weaker than you, but not helpless." Sesshoumaru frowned at his brother. "Inuyasha, you are a powerful youkai. By your reasoning, since you are stronger than the youkai you have slain then they were helpless and you murdered them."

"That's crazy!" exclaimed Inuyasha. "Youkai and humans are not the same. Humans are weaker than youkai!"

"And yet, humans kill youkai." Sesshoumaru indicated Sango and Kohaku. "Some do it with great success." He frowned again. "What the being is does not matter. What the being does with its existence does. Do not feel guilt over killing evil men, just as you feel no guilt over killing evil youkai."

Inuyasha scowled. "You've given me something to think about." He looked around at the group. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Let's get back to Genki's."

All but Sesshoumaru smiled at the apparent incongruity of that statement. As Kagome moved to help Sango get Kohaku on Kirara's back and Takara went to help Inutaro, a shadow passed over the group. Suddenly, a voice came from the air above. "Master Inuyasha! Master Inuyasha!"

"Figures!" snorted Inuyasha. "He always shows up after the danger is over." He shaded his eyes as he looked up to see a small figure jump from the back of a crow. As the small flea demon landed on Inuyasha, he began to jump up and down in excitement.

"Oh, Master!" Myouga exclaimed. "I am so happy to see that you are all right!"

"Of course I am jiji. We just faced down Naraku. Why shouldn't I be alright?"

Myouga sweat dropped. "Eehh, no reason, my Lord. None at all."

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He quickly snatched up the flea between his fingers before the little coward ran off. "Alright, you little coward, spill! Why should something be wrong with me?"

Myouga's eyes got big and he began pleading with his master. "Please, my Lord! It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it! It's just that I could taste your blood and it was so good that I couldn't help myself and before I knew it I had taken it all."

"What are you talking about, you senile old bug?!"

"Your mate, Yukiho." Myouga trembled in great fear for the punishment he was sure he was about to receive. "I accidentally drank all your blood from her body and severed the mating. Please don't kill me!"

All stared at the flea, completely dumbstruck.

**A/N: Well, it's about time. My muse went on an extended vacation. I was blocked big time. For the life of me, I couldn't get past a certain part in this chapter. Well, the rest of this tale isn't long in telling. I'm almost done. I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story and in my last author's note, I'll even get around to naming names. I would also like to thank those who voted for 'Afternoon Delight'. It placed 3rd in the poetry/songfic category with the InuyashaFanGuild. Take care, Fyrloche.**


End file.
